Opinion: Outside the Tent
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Today’s criticism/praise of the L.A. Times....
* Downtown civic activist Brady Westwater rips apart the factual descriptions in an article on Eastside politics, and then gives a big are you kidding me? to this post-march account‘s assertion that in downtown L.A., ‘seldom is anyone seen walking.’
* Patrick ‘Patterico’ Frey is puzzled by the paper’s public explanation of l’affaire Hiltzik:
Other than the brief Editor’s Note from the other day, no story on this issue has appeared in the L.A. Times. Nothing has appeared to explain the background of how Hiltzik’s pseudonyms came to light. This means that the very readers who are going to lose his column are also the people who are most left in the dark as to why.
* Contra Patterico is ‘scribes’ over at Martini Republic, who excerpts some anti-illegal immigrant comments from Frey, and then questions
the ethics of a guy spouting about the nuisance of undocumented citizens while working on the County nickel
* Rabble-rouser Bob Morris gives kudos to today’s May Day roundup:
The L.A. Times has excellent coverage this morning. They’d seemed somewhat opposed to the marches during the buildup, however today they have comprehensive reporting.
* TakeBackTheTimes blogger Ken Reich offers these roses (complete with thorns) to the Opinion Section’s leadership:
The article in the L.A. Times’ Current section Sunday recounting a visit to Cuba by Times editorial page editor Andres Martinez was well worth reading and marks the steady improvement of Current under the deputy editorial page editor, Michael Newman. Martinez, whose bland editorials continue for the most part, had an incisive report on Cuba in a state of waiting, waiting for Fidel Castro to die and wondering what will happen to the Communist system when he does go. [...] This article again confirms my impression that Martinez writes better articles and columns than he does editorials.
More at the link dissecting the Opinion Section. Point of clarification -- Current is under the stewardship of Nicholas Goldberg, not Newman.
* It’s neither precisely criticism or praise, but Media Bistro’s FishbowlLA has a daily feature called LAT in 90 Seconds that’s usually worth the minute-and-a-half.