Kevin Roderick’s piece on new Los Angeles Times editor Dean Baquet and the Sisyphean task of rebuilding circulation is now up at Los Angeles Magazine. One section prompted a scramble for the keyboard:

Baquet reads criticism of the Times on blogs, citing Hewitt, Patterico’s Pontifications, Slate’s Kausfiles, my own L.A. Observed, and the Elegant Variation, which critiques (and usually pans) each Sunday’s Book Review. Blogger obsession with liberal bias in the news pages is mostly ideological gamesmanship, Baquet contends …

We think it’s a little deeper than that. Right-side problems with the LAT (see some of ours here) aren’t just blogger “gotcha;” they go to the core of the paper’s claimed impartiality.

Baquet would likely agree with editor Bill Keller of the NYT, who recently said his organization has

“A worldwide network of trained, skilled [observers] to witness events” and write about them, and “a rigorous set of standards. A journalism of verification,” rather than of “assertion,” and maintaining an “agnosticism” as to where any story may lead.

Worthy goals. But aspiring to ideals of agnosticism et al is not the same as achieving them. Some sniping at news organizations seems to be sport, sure; but some is legitimate criticism of failure to achieve the aims Keller sets out.

The hint of dismissive insularity that rises from Baquet’s “ideological gamesmanship” comment is unfortunate, for it sounds like he is missing a distinction of value to him. Right-side blogs aren’t looking for big media to become Republican; more stories played straight down the middle would suffice. Patterico and others aren’t beating up the LAT when they fail to hew a right-side line — they are pointing out when things drift too far left. Those are different approaches. Baquet may think that conservative bloggers are doing the former when they are mostly doing the latter. And that means they’re just holding the paper to its own ideals.

We hope Baquet stays current with the full spectrum of blogger criticism of the LAT — professional and amateur, left and right. It’s the most timely outside feedback he will get.

(We really do wish Baquet luck. As many problems as we think the LAT has, the news junkie staff at Independent Sources would hate to see it turn into the Chicago Tribune, a serviceable but second rate paper (but highly profitable!) that lacks the depth, and thus the value, of the majors.)

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Some of our problems stories at the LAT:

Los Angeles Times: Hillary a Moderate? Independent Sources: Not So Fast!
LA Times Uses Psychic Powers to Decide ‘Wife of Nominee Holds Strong Antiabortion Views’ (And They May Be Wrong, Too)

Is the LAT Anti-Schwarzenegger? Let Us Count The Ways
Ignore That Majority Behind The Curtain!

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 11th, 2005 at 11:45 pm by A Senior Administration Official and is filed under Los Angeles Times. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.