Knock LA writers locked out of newsroom after a disagreement with Ground Game LA

This story has been updated with statements from Ground Game LA and an update on the business status of Knock LA.

Over the last several years, Knock LA has played a crucial role in local news coverage throughout Southern California. The independent newsroom has previously broken important stories and shed light on coverage that would have otherwise gone unnoticed. Contributing reporters at Knock LA have written articles that have exposed corruption, highlighted social injustices and provided a voice to marginalized communities. Similarly, the Knock LA Voter Guide has been instrumental in shaping public opinion and driving electoral change.

On April 10th, 2024, however, several of Knock LA writers and editors were unexpectedly locked out of the newsroom. They claim they did not receive any prior warning and m were surprised to receive notifications that they had been removed from accessing the publication, related social media accounts and their Slack channel. This came just weeks after Knock LA held private discussions with board members of the board of Ground Game LA, the organization that created Knock LA, expressing a desire to separate. 

An email sent to CALÓ News by Bill Przylucki, the executive director of Ground Game LA, states that “aggrieved Knock participants refused all attempts at discussion, despite the repeated efforts of Ground Game members and other Knock participants.”

Ground Game LA is a non-profit organization which, according to their website, is “a horizontally-managed, grassroots group, building community & electoral power in Los Angeles.”

According to paperwork obtained by CALÓ News, as of April 15 2024, Knock LA has filed documents with the state of California as a fully independent, incorporated entity currently awaiting 501(c)3 status. 

Knock LA reporters said that the publication was mostly independently run. Cerise Castle, Executive Editor of Knock LA, said that she believes Ground Game LA is holding the newsroom hostage in retaliation for the staff wanting to become an independently-run publication. Castle has overseen the daily operations of Knock LA over the last two years and claims that aside from the payroll, Ground Game L.A. had little to do with the newsroom structure. 

Ground Game LA disputes this claim. “Ground Game LA is not the fiscal sponsor [of] Knock LA, nor has it ever been. Knock LA has, since its founding, been a project of Ground Game LA, not a separate entity,” their statement to CALÓ News says. “Knock LA was founded long before any of these participants became involved, and their grievances were and are not shared by a significant number of other Knock participants, who remain active in the publication.” 

One of the key advantages of being part of an independent newsroom is that it is not beholden to corporate interests or political affiliations. However, according to former writers, Knock LA has always struggled to maintain funding and has never generated enough income to hire full-time employees. “We were essentially given stipends every month to operate as the senior editors to keep things moving along internally,” said Ben Camacho, a Knock LA investigative reporter. 

Castle said that she made approximately $15,000 annually for the past two years managing a newsroom of 12 writers. Members of the Knock LA editorial team each received a $1,500 monthly stipend but have had to cut down in recent months due to inconsistent funding. “I'm putting in easily 50 hours a week on this,” Castle told CALÓ News. “It's a lot of work to run a newsroom, on top of the fact that we don’t get paid what we deserve.” 

Between October 2023 to February 2024, the editorial team at Knock LA and members of Ground Game LA attempted to engage in conversation around ethics and sustainability in the newsroom. Knock LA team members said they ultimately expressed a desire to break off from Ground Game LA and become an independently run entity. In February, members of the editorial team delivered a proposal stating that they would begin the process of sending over an asset transfer agreement. The conversation is what resulted in the eventual lockout at the beginning of April. 

Since the lockout occurred, Ground Game LA released a public statement claiming that the reasoning for the expulsion was primarily due to “three Knock LA participants” who declined repeated efforts to engage in a “process to address accusations of harm, for all parties.” They alleged that former Knock LA writers “blocked coverage of Gaza” by refusing to run a story on a Christian Palestinian family in mid-October. They also stated that members of the Knock LA team created an “increased workplace hierarchy” and “violated community agreements.”

Camacho called the statement a mischaracterization, emphasizing that the issues in running the story were rooted in editorial overreach and lack of funding. He said after the events of October 7, a Ground Game LA employee came into the Knock LA Slack channel and demanded that they write a story about a Christian Palestinian family in Gaza, which the staff refused to take on because they did not have the budget to proceed with the story. “We are of the opinion that journalism is a profession and we said that we couldn’t take on new work without a budget or that we wouldn’t force people to write for free,” said Camacho. 

According to Knock LA contributors, mismanagement of payment has been a consistent problem for freelancers. According to an open letter published online, there have been numerous instances over the last several years where Ground Game LA has issued checks to Knock LA freelancers which have bounced. Currently, none of the administrators or reporters at Knock LA have received payment for work completed in April.

Despite the many financial obstacles, Knock LA’s team has been the driving force behind local news coverage and has played a critical role in shaping Southern California’s media landscape. “We have really brilliant reporters writing for us,” said Castle, who continues to uplift the work that the small team has achieved over the last several years. “We are freelancers who have won awards for reporting and whose work has gone on to influence public policy, both at the state and federal level.” 

The group of remaining contributors, along with freelancers and the leadership of Knock LA, have decided to take the matter public, and say they are demanding that Ground Game LA relinquish their hold on the newsroom by completing the asset transfers and issue a public apology. 

The last story published on Knock LA is from April 10 and there have been no stories published since.