Ryan Gierach, founder of a website that for years was the only source for news about West Hollywood, has told friends that he is moving to Long Beach with his husband, Marcus Fant.
Gierach founded WeHoNews.com in September 2005. During its 10-year run WeHo News became the “go to” place for information about politics and civic events in West Hollywood. It also was known for its controversial and often opinionated coverage of local politics.
It is not clear whether Gierach will attempt to keep WeHo News alive from his new home in Long Beach. However he has not updated content on the site for many months.
Gierach has struggled over the years with addiction to methamphetamine and alcohol, issues he has discussed publicly. At one point after leaving a rehab shelter he was homeless for 14 months, living in a shelter operated by People Assisting the Homeless (PATH), where he continued to publish WeHoNews.com.
Gierach has had a fractious relationship with West Hollywood Media Company, publisher of WEHOville.com and, along with West Hollywood Patch, a competitor of WeHo News. Patch, however, has dramatically reduced its local coverage and rarely writes about West Hollywood and no longer competes in West Hollywood. Gierach has been highly critical of WEHOville as a competitor, asserting that its founder knows little about West Hollywood.
In addition to launching the first and to date the longest-lasting news organization focused on West Hollywood, Gierach also wrote a book about the history of West Hollywood, published under the Images of America imprint.
Gierach did not respond to requests from WEHOville for information about his move, which he has told numerous friends and contacts about. Apparently he plans to be permanently settled in Long Beach by the end of the month.
I don’t understand why this is considered “news.” The editor of this publication and Ryan Gierach have a rivalry. Its widely known, from reading comments, op-ed’s, articles, in this publication and “Weho News.” Its also perplexing how Ryan can write an article disclaiming that he’s moving, and then, at the end, an ambiguous update (as to where he is moving) that he is, after all? http://wehonews.com/i-am-moving-to-long-beach-that-is/ It would be better if they both would just leave this pissing match out of their respective publications. Even this “news article” (the one I’m commenting on here) feels like rubbing it in Ryan’s… Read more »
I believe the community is better off without his presence and that joke of a website. In my opinion slanderous one-sided unstable rants about his neighbors and landlord (which he pulls down when it gets him in trouble) and ‘news’ about cat poo makes it a high school slambook not a credible journalism source. I feel bad for Long Beach.
So this is all very nice, but on Weho News Ryan says he is not moving to Long Beach and that this article is total fabrication. The truth must be out there somewhere. We all know there’s no love lost between Ryan and Hank!
I try not to judge someone’s disability, without having walked in their shoes. This has helped me immensely in understanding people.
I agree Rob Bergstein.
I have read WEHO news off and on for a number of years and I think that this news items was very soft on Ryan. He always came off as an armchair General and that everyone owed him something. In reality he made his own bed and had to deal with his bad choice in life that he made. In the end it was getting to the point where he was just ranting and raving about everything. He didn’t like where he was staying with free lodging and food, then why did he not go out and get a JOB… Read more »
The article was completely fair and conveyed both the good and bad about WeHoNews. Ryan is to be commended for his groundbreaking efforts, dealing with his own struggles and finding the strength to move on. But WeHoNews was never a balanced, fair site, as I increasingly realized when it, unlike WeHoVille, accepted and rejected comments based on their agreeing with his POV among other ideological biases. Totally his right of course, but it is one major reason (along with the far more comprehensive and professional content in WeHoVille) that made this site so much more successful.
Wow! Ryan Gierach, thank you for your years of service to the WeHo community. Since it’s inception, his site was my goto source for local news. Before he came around, I had to rely on Frontiers for local and LGBT news with its horrible RSS support, and poor online presence which is still a problem today. I’m the first to say that Ryan’s local content was often more editorial than it should have been and expressed opinions that I often didn’t share. But, he did make a definitive effort to include opinions contrary to his own. I also believe this… Read more »
While Ryan and wehonews may have been a source for some things in West Hollywood, it was,unfortunately, not one that I could trust. Ryan never seemed to be able to determine the line between his personal feelings/agenda and the truth. One belonged on his op-ed page, the other on the news page, but far to often those lines were ignored. I know he had the best of intentions, but for me, Wehoville has been the only source of news in West Hollywood that I could trust…for years. I do wish Ryan well in this new phase of his life, happiness,… Read more »
West Hollywood isn’t the only game in town, there are many other great places to live and work….When Ryan writes an update for his famous book on West Hollywood, he’ll have to include WehoNews as the iconic local news source that for so many years kept a community informed and gave so many residents a voice……Thank you.
Best wishes to Ryan and company on their new adventure!!!
Ryan is an old friend, who has always supported me and I him in many ways. I love him and his husband and really wish them the happiness they deserve, wherever that is. For years, Ryan was the only source for weho info, and he graciously gave many of us columns and ad space to further our projects. People have said that he can be hard on others, but I find that not to be the case with me. I have never felt anything but admiration and caring for him and Marcus.
Yeah to Larry Block!!!!!