The cutesy introductions to the L.A. Times‘s new “Outside the Tent” feature suggest that the paper’s editors aren’t really taking the column (or the criticisms leveled therein) seriously. But apparently they are.

Editor John Carroll wrote an internal memo about Mickey Kaus’s suggestion that the paper run a gossip column. (Via L.A. Observed.) Carroll’s memo was leaked to Kaus, who says here that Carroll missed the point entirely. In an amusing aside, Kaus adds:

Actually, that raises another issue the Times‘ editors could discuss at their next meeting: Would Los Angeles be better off if the Times magically, without loss of human life, disappeared from the face of the earth? It’s a no-brainer!

Heh. Still, the fact that Carroll actually wrote a memo about Kaus’s suggestion is a hopeful sign.

I wonder what he’ll think about my suggestion . . .