CRENSHAW : L.A. Sentinel Moves From South-Central
The Los Angeles Sentinel, the city’s largest black newspaper, moved last week from its offices at East 43rd Street and Central Avenue in South-Central to new quarters at 3800 Crenshaw Blvd.
The Sentinel was based at 1112 E. 43rd St. for nearly 50 years. Publisher and chief executive officer Kenneth R. Thomas cited a dramatic shift in South Los Angeles demographics as the primary reason for the move, saying that Latinos far outnumber African-Americans in South and Central Los Angeles.
Thomas said that although he is aware of the historic significance of Central Avenue in the cultural history of black Los Angeles, “the African American we serve has migrated to the west and south.”
The Sentinel was founded in 1933 by civil-rights activist Leon Washington and set up shop at Central Avenue and East 43rd Street in 1945. Circulation, as high as 56,000 in the 1960s, stands at about 23,000 today. Thomas said the paper lost nearly 30% of its readership after last year’s riots.
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