Photo from flickr
Steve Hymon, the Pulitzer Prize-winning L.A. Times Metro reporter, was laid-off
last March, but is now editing MTA's new blog, The Source.

Steve Hymon was laid off on Mar. 23, 2009.  That same day, he ran a 5K or rather, walked and wheezed his way down the finish line.  Somewhere between walking and wheezing he realized that after years of sitting behind a computer, he'd become "a fat-ass journalist."  And not only a fat-ass journalist, but an unemployed one at that.

So what's a former Los Angeles Times Metro reporter to do? Nostalgically stare at his Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for his coverage of the King-Drew medical center back in 2005? Wallow in self-pity while loitering at Union Station? No, Hymon did what any educated, ambitious guy would do: He started a blog, aptly named The Puck Boy Chronicles, that showcased his affinity for hockey, writing, and well, foul language--think stories about hockey garter belts and penis jokes. 
  
But between his hectic schedule of hockey games, marathon training, and blogging, Hymon managed to pull out the old Rolodex to use his vast social network and chatterbox ways to find a new gig.  After years of talking mass transit and a little trash about policy, funding, Measure R and the MTA's bureaucratic ways, Hymon became the official editor for Metro's brand-spanking new blog, The Source. 

So, Hymon is employed, huzzah!  He can run marathons fast enough to make Forrest Gump proud. And he still has whole lot to say about, well, everything.

CurbedLA called you "hands down the best transportation reporter in Los Angeles" and lamented your lay-off back in March as being "really, terrible, terrible news."  Why do you think your L.A. Times Bottleneck Blog had such mass appeal?

It did have a small to medium, but dedicated following.  I was able to dive deeper into the mass transit dispute.  People in general like blogs because they have more of a voice than they do in newspapers; it reads fresher than the 'voice of god' type of newspaper reporting.

Do you think the major lay-offs at The L.A. Times are indicative of the gradual extinction of newspapers?

With the internet, I don't have to wait for doofus editors to give me a story on whatever they feel like.  I don't like my news dictated by their sensibilities and they don't know what they're talking about or what I care about.  And if newspapers can't adapt to the new age of media, then they'll get left behind.

How did your partnership with Metro come about? 

I spent a lot of time talking to people, trying figure out what's missing and what I could do.  I sat down with the folks from MTA to find out what kind of coverage they got.  After all, it couldn't be much because the L.A. Times laid off their transportation editor (smirk). I told them it was time to start publishing stuff themselves because it would go straight to the public and they'd get the story they wanted. 

Is it a slippery slope for a government agency to blog about itself?

It's a squishy space because you don't want to become North Korea where the goal is to create new propaganda.  We want outside media coverage because there's no substitute for outside perspective.  The Source does help fill gaps in coverage for an important agency with a budget of a billion-plus dollars.

You had a reputation of being a snarky blogger.  Do you have to censor yourself now that you're employed by the same agency you were once so critical of?

It's not the same job at the newspaper, and it's very important for people to understand that.   It's about explaining what the agency is doing for better or worse.  It's not so much about injecting my opinion. If the media wants to pick up on something I wrote and be critical about it, then that's fine.  I'm using my journalism background to ask the MTA good questions.

What's an example of something you reported for The Source that raised some eyebrows?

The MTA put together a video that cost them a hundred grand.  Some people were uncomfortable with that.  Whether the amount was too much or too little was for the readers to judge, I simply provided them with the facts.

Is there still a part of you that wants to take a jab at the MTA every once a while?

Look, I wouldn't work for them if I didn't like them.  They always gave me a fair shake as a reporter and they never lied to me.  I went to work with them because I thought they wanted to do better, not because the MTA was severely flawed.  No government or corporation is perfect...The L.A. Times isn't perfect; after all, they put up with highly paid editors who don't want to move from La Canada.

If you had a dinner party which Metro Board members would you invite?

I know where you're going with this question.  I'd invite all of them, but I'm sure they have better dinner invites than me.  I respect them, even if I've been critical of them at times.

Would you even invite Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa?

Like I said, I'd invite everyone.  Mayor Villaraigosa was elected twice for public office, so that's pretty worthy of my respect.

But what's your opinion of him on both a personal and professional level?

I have to decline to answer that question.  He's a board member, I cover him on the blog.  It's not appropriate.   The one thing I will say is that he's gotten a lot of grief and not enough credit for the fact that the subway project was DOA when he was in office.  He pushed it out of grave, got the necessary studies done, and got the ball rolling. He made a big promise with the 'Subway to the Sea' and it looks like this thing is going to get built in a timely fashion.

The Mayor defines 'timely' as ten years.  How long do you think it's going to take before we have a subway that runs through Santa Monica?

It seems like the momentum is there and I'm surprised at how far they are in planning.  The history of giant infrastructure projects is that they take a lot of time and so many things could go wrong.  I think the agency has to dot all its 'Is' and cross all 'Ts.' But Measure R was a huge step forward.

Do you think Measure R was an example of solid legislation?

Nobody thinks Measure R is perfect.  It's a political animal of a plan born of politics and compromise.  But 68 percent of the county voted for this long-range plan.  I'm glad they could decide whether or not they wanted to raise taxes and a have mass transit future for themselves.

A lot of people think that California isn't the golden state it once was.  After all, the state is deeply plagued by financial woes and immigration oversight.   Why do you choose to live in California and more specifically, to spend your life writing about it?

I'm originally from Cincinnati, Ohio. I lived in Chicago and New York before moving to Los Angeles in August 1994.  Anyone who lives here for fifteen years and buys real estate has to love it.

What makes California such a great place is that it has this amazing natural environment with a generally lousy built environment, but with a huge potential to rebuild. It should be this amazing thriving urban place, but it's great living in a place that's not so perfect.

And the traffic situation is definitely far from perfect.  Do you usually ride public transit to bypass the congestion?

I drive a gold 2007 Subaru Outback.  I'm like most people who live in the area who can afford a car and aren't shy about it.  I opt for the door-to-door convenience of having a car.  We don't have a mass transit system that competes with that, but one day we will. 

So the official Metro blogger doesn't use public transportation?

I do use the mass transit system out of responsibility, so that I know what I'm talking about.  If I don't like something about it, I cover it in the blog.  I don't feel guilty about driving a car, although maybe I should now....