How we review

A review in LA Press is a signed argument about a book, a film, a show, a record, a meal, or a designed object. It says what the work is trying to do, whether it does it, and for whom. Stars and scores, if we use them, are a summary of that argument, not a substitute for it.

Access and independence

Screeners, review copies, and tickets are tools. They are not payment. If a conflict exists — a friend, a former employer, a financial interest — the reviewer recuses or the conflict is disclosed on the page. We do not sell a “sponsored review.”

Embargoes are scheduling. If a studio or a publisher tries to condition access on a favorable line, we walk. Games reviews follow the same rule on the Games desk.

What a review is not

It is not a plot dump. It is not a press-kit paraphrase. It is not a listicle of “things you missed.” If the news is that a show was cancelled or a prize was awarded, that is a news brief, not a review.