Politico senior news editor for California David Siders, and California editorial director Christopher Cadelago sent out the following on Thursday:
We have big news in Hollywood: Daniel Miller is joining POLITICO as our first reporter dedicated to covering the intersection of Hollywood, technology, sports, media and politics in California.
Daniel is uniquely suited for this role. He is deeply rooted in Los Angeles, with a well of sources across Hollywood and the city’s civic power centers, where he has spent more than two decades chronicling how money, influence and culture shape Southern California.
His hire is part of POLITICO’s ambitious expansion in California. As we continue to grow our footprint across the state, Daniel will help define a new beat focused on Hollywood and Los Angeles power: the rainmakers, dealmakers and cultural figures who shape policy debates, elections and public life far beyond the state’s borders. Daniel will explore how Hollywood and Southern California operate as engines of political power, a magnet for 2028 presidential contenders, and a central node of the attention economy — particularly as the region prepares to host the World Cup and the 2028 Olympic Games.
Daniel joins POLITICO after 13 years at the Los Angeles Times, where he served in various roles as a staff writer and enterprise reporter. He has broken and led reporting on stories ranging from allegations of sexual misconduct at LA’s Magic Castle to the fraught political ties between The Walt Disney Co. and the city of Anaheim and the mystery of a missing million-dollar pocket watch once owned by J.P. Morgan.
He wrote, reported and hosted an award-winning podcast detailing the life of an enigmatic LA street racer, went inside the world of second-tier talent agents operating on the fringes of Hollywood and captured the annoyances of residents living on the same street as Kamala Harris (and yes, broke the story of the high-end grocery chain Erewhon’s removal of Hailey Bieber’s name from its $20 smoothie).
Daniel was named Journalist of the Year at the 2015 National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards and, a year later, received the Entertainment Journalist of the Year award from the L.A. Press Club. He was also a Loeb Awards finalist in 2016 for “Selling Stardom,” a series on unscrupulous Hollywood operators. More recently, the Society for Features Journalism has twice recognized his narrative reporting with its Excellence-in-Features Awards.
Daniel began his career reporting in the region, writing for the Ventura County Star, the Los Angeles Business Journal and The Hollywood Reporter. He attended Beverly Hills High School and UCLA, and has spent his career building a granular understanding of the neighborhoods, industries and personalities that make Los Angeles one of the world’s most consequential power centers.
A determined and versatile storyteller, Daniel brings a lively and fluid writing style, sharp news instincts and a record of deeply reported narratives that capture Los Angeles at moments of cultural and political inflection.
Based in Los Angeles, he will work closely with POLITICO reporters in Sacramento, San Francisco, Washington and beyond, drawing connections between global power centers to tell readers what’s coming next in Southern California — and why it matters. He will start Feb. 3.
Please join us in welcoming Daniel to POLITICO.
