Lacter has covered Southern California business extensively as both an editor and reporter. He was editor of the Los Angeles Business Journal, which won numerous national and regional awards during his tenure; a senior editor for Forbes magazine, covering media and entertainment; and has held a variety of posts at the San Francisco Chronicle, Los Angeles Daily News, and Orange County Register. Lacter was also named by the Society of Professional Journalists as distinguished journalist of the year, and he does business analysis on KPCC-FM.