LAist is an audience-funded nonprofit newsroom based in Pasadena, California, home of LAist.com and LAist 89.3 FM (KPCC), Los Angeles's largest NPR station. It is operated by Southern California Public Radio, part of American Public Media Group.
LAist is an audience-funded, nonprofit public media newsroom serving Greater Los Angeles and Southern California. It is the home of LAist.com and LAist 89.3 FM, the largest NPR station in Los Angeles, along with LAist Studios podcasts and LAist live events. The organization behind it is Southern California Public Radio (SCPR), a member-supported nonprofit founded in 1999 and part of American Public Media Group, the parent of Minnesota Public Radio and American Public Media.
The flagship station, KPCC 89.3 FM, is licensed to Pasadena City College and broadcasts from the Mohn Broadcast Center on South Raymond Avenue in Pasadena, with its transmitter on Mount Wilson. SCPR also operates KUOR 89.1 in the Inland Empire, KVLA 90.3 in the Coachella Valley, KJAI 89.5 in Ojai and a signal at 89.9 FM in Santa Barbara, carrying the service across Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. LAist.com joined SCPR in 2018, when SCPR acquired the Los Angeles site of the former Gothamist network, and in January 2023 the radio stations dropped the long-running KPCC brand and took the LAist name across all platforms.
LAist reports on the region's biggest challenges, including housing and homelessness, climate and the environment, education, immigration, public safety and government accountability, as well as food, arts and culture, and it does not publish opinion journalism. Locally produced programs include AirTalk and FilmWeek, and the stations also carry programming from NPR, American Public Media and PRX. As of 2023, SCPR reported serving more than 527,000 listeners each week.
LAist hires journalists, editors, producers and hosts for its newsroom and shows across radio, digital, audio and video, along with staff in fundraising, marketing, engineering and operations. Most roles are based at its Pasadena headquarters, and openings are posted on American Public Media Group's shared careers portal.
