This reporting package was created under the umbrella of the L.A. Story Project at USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. Produced by specialized journalism students Ricky O’Bannon, Helena Liikanen-Renger and Megan O’Neil, it is part of a series of work designed to explore some of the city’s most dynamic neighborhoods.
Helena Liikanen-Renger
Helena Liikanen-Renger is a foreign news journalist and news producer from Finland. She
has worked for the biggest commercial TV channel called MTV3 since 2003. During the nine
years in the company Helena has worked in several different positions: as an EU journalist, a
journalist for the Morning Show and a correspondent to Sweden.
Before joining MTV3 Helena gathered experience from a nationwide tabloid newspaper, a
web portal and an independent TV production house. Helena graduated from University of
Helsinki in 2002 as a Master of Social Sciences.
Megan O’Neil
Los Angeles native Megan O’Neil spent the last several years as a reporter with the L.A.
Times Community Division covering neighborhoods including Burbank, Glendale, La
Crescenta and La Canada Flintridge. Her journalistic interests include women’s issues,
education and Latin America.
Ricky O’Bannon
Ricky grew up in Plano, Texas, and earned a Bachelor of Journalism at the University of Missouri, focusing on music and arts journalism. He interned at MSN UK working for the online cars and music sections and has spent the past two years working a government beat covering politics, people and pipelines for a The Stillwater NewsPress in Stillwater, Oklahoma.