Former Graphic editors Dave Morgan and Steve Pratt now hold court in the Los Angeles Times Sports Department.
By Joann Groff
Assistant Sports Editor
Two former Graphic editors and distinguished alumni, Steven Pratt and David Morgan, are sitting at their desks in the sports department of the Los Angeles Times, both integral parts of one of the most influential newspapers in the country. On this particular December morning, rumors began circulating of another paper snagging one of the biggest stories in college football and tensions began rising at a rapid rate.
“UCLA’s head football coach, Bob Toledo, was fired today,” Pratt said. “Two newspapers had it in today’s edition, meaning it was leaked in the middle of the night. Our beat reporter didn’t get it . . . wow, I feel sorry for that guy.”
But there isn’t much time to be feeling sorry for anyone. Deputy Sports Editor Morgan is busy debating the stories for the front page with his bosses, taking calls from across the nation updating him on a story’s status and reorganizing the design plan for the day’s pages. He has reporter after writer after columnist walking in and out of his office with information, leads and story ideas. He entertains questions and criticism with dignity and efficiency.
Everything is moving quickly in the large room filled with computers on every desk and papers stacked to the roof. It’s lined with offices of seven assistant sports editors typing, reading and talking furiously, all with a certain element of composure.
“We’ve got reporters calling all the time saying this has changed, and that this isn’t what they thought it was,” Morgan said. “So we spend all day reacting to it, rarely getting shocked. We may be surprised, but not shocked. A firing like today’s, we are shocked.”
Meanwhile, Pratt is designing page after page, leaving holes for stories to be dropped in upon arrival, knowing that everything could change depending on what they get for the UCLA story. He says there’s a sense of urgency today despite having a small section, because one of the three largest layout guys is on vacation, putting added stress on today’s already Toledo-crazed day.
A day like this, with big stories, nail-biting headlines and breaking information, shows that these former Waves have made it, and both are planning on going nowhere fast.
“That’s why they call the L.A. Times the velvet coffin,” Pratt said. “Everyone wants to get to the Times. And when they get in here, they stay here. Once you’re in, you’re going to die here.”
Morgan is the perfect example of a journalist’s arduous climb to the top. After writing for his hometown paper and working for The Graphic as sports editor before graduating in 1985, Morgan decided to try to get a clip in the L.A. Times before he went home. After just one short feature, he was offered a position, although it wasn’t exactly the job of his dreams.
“I wound up answering phones,” Morgan said. “I never went home, and I’ve been here ever since.”
He did some freelance writing and a couple years later, when an opening popped up, took a job at the copy desk. That year the Dodgers were in the World Series and the Olympics had commenced in Seoul, South Korea, which meant the sports department needed a little more help.
“In my days off, I’d come downtown to work extra,” Morgan said. “I’d work overtime downtown just to get the experience. After doing that four or five months, a job opened up. One thing led to another, and here I am.”
Morgan is now running arguably one of the best sports sections in the nation.
With late nights and unexpected outcomes, working in sports also means added stress, but Morgan says that’s all part of the excitement. Morgan works long hours and is on-call after he goes home in case something goes wrong during the final stages of production.
He admits it takes a toll, but insists that working weekends and holidays is a sacrifice he’ll make to have the career he’s dreamed of since he was 15 years old.
“By the end of a given night, a story may completely change,” Morgan said. “We look at every direction it could take and plan for it. It’s all about preparing for the known, and then preparing to change everything, because the known could change before we know it.”
And no one does it affect more than the layout crew. Pratt is often delivered a news story, a better picture or a whole new spread late at night, dangerously close to his 11 p.m. deadline.
“The people doing layout have it the worst,” Morgan said. “You could have your pages all set, but you better know what you’re going to do when a big thing changes. You always have to know what you’re next move is — it’s like a chess game that way.”
But after Pratt realized writing was not the direction he wanted to take, layout jumped at him as a fascinating career opportunity. He was a feature editor at Pepperdine until he graduated in 1992, and says his experiences at the Graphic are what inspired him to push for a career in journalism.
“The camaraderie – the blood sweat and tears to get that thing out,” Pratt said. “For a guy, it was like giving birth. There were battles, fights, a lot of screaming at each other, but it was always for the finished product. It was a high, an addiction.”
Morgan was the distinguished alumnus while Pratt was at Pepperdine, and the two met and stayed close the following couple years. After a stint at the Camarillo Daily News, Morgan offered a part-time layout design job to Pratt, and within 10 months he was offered a full-time position.
“It was really exciting being 28 and working full-time for the L.A. Times,” Pratt said. “I don’t even claim to know more than the next guy, I just have a passion for it, and that’ll take you a long way in anything you do.”
For him, Pratt said, the excitement is the atmosphere. He said there is nothing more rewarding than working on deadline with news breaking all around him, despite the less-than-stellar pay.
“I love it,” Pratt said. “I love being around the newsroom. If you love it, you’ll sacrifice a lot of things. When people hear that I work for the sports section of the L.A. Times, they’re just like, ‘wow, that’s a dream job.’ ”
A dream job in which everyone is striving for perfection. Morgan says that’s a perfection they know will never come, but push for it during the entire course of their career.
“There will never be a perfect newspaper,” Morgan said. “But you’re always striving for that everyday. I don’t care if today was a good day or a bad one, as long as we come back and prove ourselves all over again tomorrow. I love that challenge.”
And with that Morgan picks up the phone and speaks to a source about UCLA. They think USC Assistant Coach Riley is going to be hired for Toledo’s position. And nobody else knows.
“We won’t be scooped on this one again,” Morgan said with a sly smile.
And they weren’t.
February 06, 2003