Tim Rutten responds – Los Angeles Times: These rules we live by

IT’S been nearly half a century since even a whiff of scandal or implication of misconduct attached itself to The Times’ editorial pages. That’s what makes the resignation of the section’s editor, Andr–s Martinez, and its aftermath a melancholy rather than merely curious affair.

For the record, a substantial number of my more than 35 years at The Times were spent on the paper’s editorial pages — first as an assistant editor of the op-ed page, then as editor of Opinion and, finally, as an editorial writer. I was 24 when I first joined the section, and I vividly recall how daunting it was to be surrounded by vastly more experienced colleagues, many of them genuinely distinguished. I also remember being struck with how an attention to ethics wove itself through even the most mundane parts of our daily work and by — what seemed at the time — a fairly stultifying insistence on propriety.

Suffer through the rest of the self-righteous piece, if you must.

So, who are you going to believe? Martinez or Rutten?

Does it even matter?

Flap at this point has come to agree with Nicki Finke:

And Nikki Finke puts a tremulous finger on the real infection: “Sanctimonious newsroom reporters and editors acting all holier-than-thou about journalism ethics, even though they never complained about the impropriety of their ousted editor Dean Baquet’s behind-the-scenes cozying up to a Billionaire Boys Club of potential local buyers for the LA Times. An editorial editor who oversaw the opinion/Op-ed pages spiralling into irrelevancy, in part because Spring Street’s 2nd floor now panders to neo-con and libertarian and other fringe ideologues whose main qualifications for being published there seem be that they’re all palsy-walsy with each other.”

Days of Our Times indeed………

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Los Angeles Times Watch: GrazerGate FLAP Part III

Los Angeles Times Watch: GrazerGate FLAP Part II

Los Angeles Times Watch: Andres Martinez Quits Over GrazerGate FLAP

Technorati Tags: LosAngelesTimes, AndresMartinez, BrianGlazer, KellyMullens

Kevin Roderick has the latest POOP on the GrazerGate Flap.

I’ll post a selection of other emails about the latest twists in the dramedy known as the Los Angeles Times over the weekend. O’Shea, Martinez, Brian Grazer and David Hiller (left to right) plus Kelly Mullens all come up on Saturday’s “Deadline L.A.” at noon on KPFK. Mark Lacter of LA Biz Observed and I discuss the Times situation with hosts Barbara Osborn and Howard Blume. Meanwhile, Radar Online’s John Cook (a former Tribune staffer) talks about O’Shea’s own complications from sleeping with a prominent PR executive — his wife, a manager of media relations for Chicago’s Field Museum.

Patterico asks what’s really going on here? And then proceeds to tell us. He is SPOT ON!

A cabal of staffers in the newsroom tries to influence the direction of the opinion page, some for “ideological” reasons. Martinez resists this attempt at interference.

Then, a cabal of staffers, including at least two well-known left-leaning ideologues, lean on the editor to take an extreme action on a non-scandal — knowing that such drastic action would be an effective way to humiliate Martinez.

Do you think there is any overlap or coordination between the first cabal of staffers and the second? I do.

Do you think this was a legitimate scandal that merited the extreme actions taken by the paper? I don’t.

I think there’s something else going on here. Tim Cavanaugh describes me as sniffing out a “left-wing coup,” and that’s about what I think has happened here.

So, is it Christmas in July?

You bet and stay tuned for more presents from Spring Street.

Andrés Martinez, left, resigned as Los Angeles Times editorial page editor, saying he had been undermined by his publisher, David Hiller.

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Los Angeles Times Watch: GrazerGate FLAP Part II

Los Angeles Times Watch: Andres Martinez Quits Over GrazerGate FLAP

Technorati Tags: LosAngelesTimes, AndresMartinez, BrianGlazer, KellyMullens

Andrés Martinez, left, resigned as Los Angeles Times editorial page editor, saying he had been undermined by his publisher, David Hiller.

New York Times: Los Angeles Times Editorial Page Chief Quits

Andrés Martinez, the editorial page editor of The Los Angeles Times, resigned yesterday, saying he had been undermined by his publisher over what Mr. Martinez described as a “perception of a conflict of interest.”

Mr. Martinez had helped select Brian Grazer, a Hollywood producer, as guest editor of a special edition of this Sunday’s opinion section, called Current. The paper reported yesterday that Mr. Martinez is in a romantic relationship with Kelly Mullens, a senior executive at the public relations firm that represents Mr. Grazer’s production company.

The publisher, David Hiller, initially said he did not see a conflict, only the appearance of a conflict that could be handled with an editor’s note disclosing the relationship, said James O’Shea, the paper’s editor. But Mr. Hiller changed his mind yesterday after several staff members expressed their concern to Mr. O’Shea, and Mr. O’Shea spoke with Mr. Hiller. Yesterday, Mr. Hiller canceled the special edition.

In a statement last night, Mr. Hiller said that “a potential conflict of interest had emerged” over Mr. Martinez’s relationship with Ms. Mullens. “We believe that this relationship did not influence the selection of Brian as guest editor,” he said. “Nonetheless, in order to avoid even the appearance of conflict, we felt the best course of action was not to publish the section.”

When informed of the decision, Mr. Martinez resigned and took the unusual step of announcing his decision on a blog on the paper’s Web site. In a defiant note, he wrote that the paper had overreacted, that Mr. Grazer and Ms. Mullens “did nothing wrong” and that Mr. Hiller’s decision made his tenure “untenable.”

There is the story and the FLAP which is a precis from yesterday’s post.

Now, Andres Martinez STRIKES BACK.

He blames not himself for an ethical gaffe but newsroom reporters who tattle-tailed. These reporters (and Martinez does name names) want the newsroom to influence the editorial pages.

Go figure.

Hell, the Los Angeles Times news stories have been biased and opinionated for years.

The difference here?

Someone from Spring Street finally spills the beans – so to speak.

Hugh Hewitt refers to the HYPOCRISY of former Los Angeles Times Editor, John Carroll.

Patterico adds his insight.

Flap smiles with the vindicative countenance of a pseudo-journalist.

Indeed.

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Los Angeles Times Watch: Andres Martinez Quits Over GrazerGate FLAP

Technorati Tags: LosAngelesTimes, AndresMartinez, BrianGlazer, KellyMullens

Hugh Hewitt: The Continuing Collapse Of The Los Angeles Times UPDATE: Martinez Resigns

A few days back The Los Angeles Times trumpeted “the launch of a quarterly guest editor program for Current, the Sunday edition commentary section. Brian Grazer, Oscar® and Emmy®-winning writer-producer, has been chosen to oversee the debut and future guest editors will be similarly intriguing personalities from the worlds of politics, business, culture, entertainment and sports.”

In a blow certain to further erode the paper’s almost non-existent credibility, it has been revealed that Andres Martinez, the editorial page editor and overseer of the project, has been in a relationship with Grazier’s publicist.

Bill Boyarsky has the details. Nikke Finke has much more.

Nikke Finke has this post on Martinez’s resignation.

What a MESS at the Times.

The Tribune Group will be selling this media property at a discount…….

Technorati Tags: LosAngelesTimes, AndresMartinez, BrianGlazer, KellyMullens