Letters From The Editor: Who should be on the DP 103?

Are you publishing the DP 103 this year?

That’s one of the questions I’ve gotten the most in my freshman year as Daily Pilot editor.

Everyone wants to know if I plan to continue the annual list of Newport-Mesa’s 103 most influential newsmakers and powerbrokers.

Here’s the one-word answer: yes.

The DP 103 will return Dec. 31 as an end-of-year look at who made news in 2010. (We’ll also publish a separate feature on the top news stories Sunday and a look-ahead Jan. 2.)

Web Editor Jamie Rowe, who defies journalistic stereotype as an honest-to-God organized person, will edit the DP103 contributions written by the entire editorial staff.

And to make a good thing better, the guy who started the DP 103, William Lobdell, will write a column anchoring this year’s report.

The element of surprise is one of the core values of the DP 103. We’re guarding the list so closely that even WikiLeaks can’t get it.

You can bet you’ll see people you expect, such as city managers and council members, but also expect surprises.

Last year, Newport Beach City Manager Dave Kiff opened the list and O.C. Board of Education President Alexandria Coronado closed it.

This year, we plan to return to an old tradition of putting a heavy hitter at No. 1 and a silly choice at 103. We also plan to largely disband with the practice of including inanimate objects and institutions, as this list is about people (and the occasional animal).

Another thing to remember: This is all in good fun, sometimes at the expense of the newsmakers. DP103 has a long tradition of tongue-in-cheek editorializing and humor.

We started with about 125 names and are in the process of editing them down to a fightin’ 103.

To make things more interesting and more complicated for a staff that already has sugar plum fairies dancing in its collective head, I thought it would be fun to ask readers who they think should be on the DP 103.

So post your suggestions and reasons below this column on our website.

We’ll take your advice, or we won’t, but either way this is a discussion worth having before we publish the list.

We certainly don’t want to miss anyone.

JOHN CANALIS is the editor for the Daily Pilot, Laguna Beach Coastline Pilot and Huntington Beach Independent. He can be reached at (714) 966-4607 and john.canalis@latimes.com.