Things to Do in Los Angeles

Things to do 1: Tour some of the big news organizations in L.A.

This page last updated: Feb. 2017.

Note: CNN doesn’t give tours of this branch, weirdly. I don’t know why. They give tours of their Atlanta headquarters and, from what I’ve read, their New York office. But not the giant CNN building in L.A. Neither, from what I’ve read online, does ABC, CBS or FOX.

This page is mostly for contact information and to find out one one page where you can see. There are a number of sites out there that will tell you more about some of the tours: Seeing-Stars, Los Angeles Attractions, Trip Advisor (which doesn’t describe the tours as well, but does have reviews).

Here’s a list of places you can try calling to see if they can show you around. Some have regular tours, some don’t.

Papers and Magazines

L.A. Times: Please call (213) 237-5757 for current tour information.
Note: Tours are about an hour long, walking around the building, and there are 2 types: Editorial tour and printing tour. They do these around 11 am and 1 pm often it seems (the printing is the earlier one). And not every day. You can call, and they’ll call you back and you can work out a day.

L.A. Daily News (second-largest publication): Main line: 818-713-3000

L.A. Daily Journal (legal magazine): Phone: (213) 229-5300

L.A. Weekly: http://www.laweekly.com/about/contact

The Hollywood Reporter (film news): Main: 323.525.2000

Variety: Phone: 1-800-552-3632 (U.S.) / +1 818-487-4561 (outside of U.S.)

TV

CBS Television City: Main Office: 323 575 2345. No tours. You can sit in their live television audiences (live tapings of TV shows) for free though.

KSET: No tours any more.

You can get free tickets to shows in LA from various places for various shows and studios, including live TV audience shows, first screenings for new films, etc.: http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/top-lists/best-sites-for-tv-audience-tickets-in-la/

Some specific show: Family Feud, Price is Right,

BIG FILM STUDIOS

Note: A lot of these are in little covered vehicles, but also outdoors. I’m not sure how much a rainy day effects these studio tours.

Paramount: I’ve heard this one isn’t as exciting as Universal/Warner, but is more about running a studio, so could be of more interest to people who work in AV.

Universal: Perhaps most famous tours – kind of like an amusement park, they seem to me.

Sony:

Warner: Second-most famous tours – kind of like Universal.

RECORDING STUDIOS

THINGS TO DO 2: Art

LACMA, a big art museum with good visiting shows (Picasso etc). Rules for photography: http://www.lacma.org/sites/default/files/Visit_PoliciesAccessibilityTips_0.pdf

The Broad, another museum with post-WWII art, including Koons. http://www.thebroad.org/visit/ticketing-and-visit-faq

Getty Center http://www.getty.edu/visit/center/plan/faqs.html