A proposal to name a City Hall media conference room in honor of Daily News reporter Rick Orlov, who died in February after a long career covering Los Angeles politics, was endorsed Wednesday by a City Council committee.
If approved by the full council, Orlov’s name would be the first to be inscribed in the Los Angeles City Council Memorial Media Center, where news conferences are regularly held.
The Rules, Elections and Intergovernmental Relations Committee also recommended renaming the room the “Rick Orlov City Council Memorial Media Center.” The room was originally named in 1989 to honor reporters who gave their lives to keep Angelenos informed.
Council President Herb Wesson, who chairs the committee, said he and other council members “grew up with” Orlov, who covered City Hall for nearly three decades.
Wesson called Orlov the “last of the last” old-school reporters.
“Times are changing, the media is changing. … I remember the day when so many of the media were like Rick Orlov,” Wesson said. “I don’t think there will ever be another Rick Orlov.”
Orlov was known for his Tipoff column, which detailed the inner workings of City Hall and was considered a must-read by both politicians and observers of local politics. He was also called the “dean of the City Hall press corps” for his work mentoring fellow reporters.
Orlov worked until the end, despite being hospitalized. An article with his byline appeared in the Los Angeles Daily News on Feb. 2, the day he died at age 66.
Orlov was recognized for his work in 1990 when the Society of Professional Journalists named him “Journalist of the Year,” and in 2009 when the Los Angeles Press Club gave him its Joseph M. Quinn lifetime achievement award.
— City News Service