UCLA Blueprint, a new magazine blueprint.ucla.edu of California policy and politics, launched on Wednesday, delivering its debut issue in print and on the web. I’m serving as its editor-in-chief, and am thrilled to be surrounded by a group of journalists who are among the best in California.
Each issue of Blueprint will be devoted to a topic of importance to Los Angeles and California. Our inaugural effort is entitled “The New Science of Safety,” and examines cutting-edge research from the fields of criminal justice and policing – timely and important questions. Erika Hayasaki, a gifted writer and former colleague of mine from the LATimes, writes about police bias and research examining how unconscious racism can affect the judgments of officers and others. Meanwhile, Rob Greene, a Times editorial writer, profiles Patrisse Cullors, a young activist who was instrumental in winning support for Los Angeles County’s jail oversight commission; Cullors, as Rob reports, also is the author of the now-iconic slogan: “Black Lives Matter.”
Elsewhere in the issue, top writers explore research into juvenile justice, criminal sentencing and the surprising relationship between public health and recidivism. Our first issue also includes a profile of LAPD Chief Charlie Beck, a Q-and-A with Attorney General Kamala Harris, a conversation between Washington Post reporter Matea Gold and retiring Congressman Henry Waxman and a first-person reflection on teacher tenure rules by a former schoolteacher.
Blueprint is not an academic journal. It’s a magazine, meant to stimulate civic dialogue and targeted at readers who are interested in policy but not necessarily wonks. It’s brightly and intelligently illustrated – Noma Bar, a gifted illustrator, produced its signature pieces of art – and it’s edited by my good friend, the legendary Times journalist Rick Meyer.
To celebrate our debut, UCLA Chancellor Gene Block hosted an event Wednesday evening. Attended by Mayor Eric Garcetti and many leading elected and appointed officials, it marked our coming out. Now that we’re official, we’ll be updating the website regularly and laying plans for our fall edition, tentatively focused on questions of inequality.
We hope you’ll join us. The website is here: blueprint.ucla.edu. It’s easy and free to subscribe. Just sign up on the home page, and you’ll get an alert whenever we produce an Internet exclusive or a print edition.