[2]: 29 [3]: 408  The Record was an evening newspaper, perceived to be politically independent, and its offices were on Wall Street for much of its 20th-century history.

[4] The newspaper ultimately developed a fairly populistic, working-class editorial approach that stood out amongst the city's dailies, especially compared to the arch-capitalist Los Angeles Times.

[5]: 85 Circa 1904 it was credited with the removal of LAPD Chief of Police Charles Elton after the paper charged him with protecting illegal gambling rings.

[6] Among its editorial practices of the early 1900s was baiting Pacific Electric magnate Henry E. Huntington because, argued Record editorials, "company owners forced employees to operate the trolleys at excessive speed and were interested primarily in profits instead of human lives.

"[7]: 138  The paper also opposed William Mulholland's planned Los Angeles Aqueduct as exploitative of Owens Valley.