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Friday, Mar 29, 2024

Kyser’s Accessibility Benefited Media, Public

Editor, Jason Schaff It may not be a big deal to some journalists or businesspeople in general, since he’s going to stay on as a consultant and still offer his opinions, but the retirement of economist Jack Kyser is worth some space here in the Business Journal. Kyser has been an economist at the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. since 1991. At that time, the organization didn’t have an economics research department. Now, largely because of Kyser, it is the go-to place for the media in making some sense out of the regional economy. More than the media know of Jack. He’s very familiar to people in the local business community. Regular non-businesspeople know Jack, too. I’ll hear people say “that guy with the moustache” said this or that about the economy. Well, Jack, you’re more famous than many local politicians or some TV so-called celebrities, that’s for sure. So why is Jack Kyser such a well-known person in our community? Because he has always provided clarity to our lives. Simple as that. And we all know that clarity is in short supply – especially these days. As a working business journalist in Southern California for the past 20 years, I probably have a fairly good read on the Jack Kyser phenomenon. Kyser has had a simple formula for success. Jack is a media darling. And because of this he is able to inform the business and regular people in our area about some economic things. He has media access. And people probably learn something from what he says. Very quotable Kyser always gets quoted in a newspaper and gets interviewed for TV spots. Same with radio. Why does he get so much media time? Because he understands the media. On top of that, he understands how to communicate in general. His goal seems to be making sure he is as clear as possible. Jack doesn’t do confusing economic jargon – at least not to us regular people in the media and out in the community. Jack understands that you’ll get quoted in the media if you make yourself accessible. I don’t know of a reporter in the Southern California area who doesn’t get a return phone call from Jack – and usually within an hour or so. And he never makes the reporter feel stupid for asking an uninformed or dumb question. He boils things down for the reporter, whatever media they may be in. He knows what makes a good quote in a print story and a good sound bite in the electronic media. He makes it oh so easy for us. So easy in fact that I’ll be honest Jack, you’ve made some reporters lazy. They don’t bother to get any other sources for their stories. This got to be such a problem that as an editor at three newspapers I’ve had to declare Kyser-free weeks or months banning you from being used as a source. You’re too accessible, it seems. And any media outlet needs as many sources as possible. But we still love you because you do care that things are communicated clearly. We just have to challenge reporters a little more. Importance of accessibility Oh, if all our business sources could be as accessible as you. I remember the first few times I was exposed to Kyser. I was a sub-level business editor at the Daily News in the early 90s. He would come to panel discussions at our offices in Woodland Hills. From the Daily News, I moved on to the San Gabriel Valley Newspaper Group where I was business editor for three papers. He’d always be accessible to the media and the other participants of the event and would give a presentation that wasn’t necessarily brilliant but it was clear and you got a sense of where the economy was headed after listening to him. We’ll still be talking to you because you said that you will stay on as a consultant to the LAEDC. But, hopefully, enjoy a little down time. Business Journal Editor Jason Schaff can be reached at (818) 316-3125 or at [email protected].

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