[4] Rachlis entered journalism as a pop music critic, reviewing albums for Rolling Stone that included 1970s works by Bob Dylan, Blondie, The Cars, Tom Waits, and Elvis Costello.
[7] Former columnist Marc Cooper would later write that under Rachlis the Weekly became "more slick, professional, better-edited but flatter, less willing to gamble and risk.
Several employees then resigned from the magazine, including Michael Ventura, John Powers, Rubén Martínez, and Ella Taylor, as well as Carson and Erickson.
[citation needed] In 2000, Rachlis joined Emmis Communications, which had just bought Los Angeles magazine for more than $30 million and was seeking an editor-in-chief to head the publication.
Emmis, which named Mary Melton as his successor, praised Rachlis for "elevating Los Angeles magazine to must-read status.