Patterico's Pontifications

This came in from publicist Phyllis Pollack- Def Press Public Relations

“Chuck called me to ask me a question when he was writing his very first story ever for the Times.
Chuck’s a good guy, a good writer, an all around good person.
I just heard from him, and I don’t see how the Times could ever find anyone to replace him.
Remember when Rob Pilatus from Milli Vanilli called the L.A. Times and made that suicide threat, and said he was going to jump off the roof of the Mondrian Hotel? If I remember correctly, (which I’m sure I do) Pilatus had called there asking for Chuck, who wasn’t in at the time, so Pilatus told the switchboard operator there he was going to jump off the balcony.
Remember Chuck’s front page exposé about the deputy D.A. renting out his Malibu summer house to Suge Knight for $100,000, or whatever it was, and that Knight had given his daughter a record deal? And that it was the same D.A. that was investigating and presiding over his then present court case?
Chuck had some really entertaining stories, some classic stuff.
It is the definitely the end of an era.”

Patrick (43a3f0) — 7/15/2008 @ 6:10 pm

This came in from publicist Phyllis Pollack-
“Chuck called me to ask me a question when he was writing his very first story ever for the Times.
Chuck’s a good guy, a good writer, an all around good person.
I just heard from him, and I don’t see how the Times could ever find anyone to replace him.
Remember when Rob Pilatus from Milli Vanilli called the L.A. Times and made that suicide threat, and said he was going to jump off the roof of the Mondrian Hotel? If I remember correctly, (which I’m sure I do) Pilatus had called there asking for Chuck, who wasn’t in at the time, so Pilatus told the switchboard operator there he was going to jump off the balcony.
Remember Chuck’s front page exposé about the deputy D.A. renting out his Malibu summer house to Suge Knight for $100,000, or whatever it was, and that Knight had given his daughter a record deal? And that it was the same D.A. that was investigating and presiding over his then present court case?
Chuck had some really entertaining stories, some classic stuff.
It is the definitely the end of an era.”

Patrick (43a3f0) — 7/15/2008 @ 6:10 pm

I find your language and tone completely inappropriate to the nature of the story. The 4th biggest paper in the country is folding and downsizing top people. It’s bad for L.A., the news business, the economy, these writer and their family. All Patterico cares about is his ego, s own stupid agenda.

You fail as an objective news reporter and as a human being. get a life

Patrick (43a3f0) — 7/15/2008 @ 6:20 pm

Thanks for the visit Chuck.

SPQR (26be8b) — 7/15/2008 @ 6:26 pm

All I meant was that it would be surprising if a list of 150 people laid off didn’t include the author of the paper’s biggest embarrassment in recent memory.

Patterico (cb443b) — 7/15/2008 @ 6:30 pm

I’m sorry for most of the “rightsized” journos (except Chuck Philips). But the LA Times has failed on multiple levels going back years under a succession of idiot savant editors and their deputies. Hugh Hewitt gave some good advice, which the LAT was too oblivious to follow. Now it’s too late.

Bradley J Fikes (0ea407) — 7/15/2008 @ 8:02 pm

Headline in tomorrow’s Dog Trainer:

Patterico Beats Phillips!!!!!!!!!

wls (02df99) — 7/15/2008 @ 8:05 pm

I feel sorry for anyone that loses a job but the alternative is to keep people working until the entire business fails. That would result in far more people losing their jobs.

DRJ (92ca6f) — 7/15/2008 @ 8:06 pm

I got fired from the LATimes today, and I didn’t even work there!

Kevin (834f0d) — 7/15/2008 @ 8:35 pm

anyone who w*rks at the Slimes and didn’t see this coming, and therefore didn’t make plans for the event, is too stupid to be a journalist anyway.

Helen Keller would have seen this coming, at midnight, during a complete eclipse, in a long tunnel with a blindfold on……

redc1c4 (5c9f54) — 7/15/2008 @ 9:08 pm

The 4th biggest paper in the country is folding and downsizing top people. It’s bad for L.A., the news business, the economy, these writer and their family. All Patterico cares about is his ego, s own stupid agenda.

Living in a propped up fantasy world must come as a shock for a paper that has gotten by with their own pathetic agenda for far too long. One can only hope that the editors “release” of the Tony Snow diatribes will be written in the epitaths of the Times demise. The “gargage in, garbage out” that included the Kingsley era has finally taken it’s toll with advertisers who have also tired of seeing a paper embarrass it’s community while claiming to be a national “paper of record”. RIP and good riddance.

Rovin (a5d8b7) — 7/15/2008 @ 9:17 pm

i posted my above comment on “tellzell” with the added comment:
(and undoubtedly, in the *best* LA Slimes tradition, you won’t post this, because you don’t agree with it. that’s the attitude that has destroyed the business and lost you readers. HAND! %-)

wanna bet it never makes it out of moderation?

/sucker bet

redc1c4 (5c9f54) — 7/15/2008 @ 9:28 pm

The big point it isn’t as much of who is fired and who is left, it is who is hired to lead and shape the paper. So far, it has only been lefties to whom change is a dirty word except when it crossed Obama’s lips.

PCD (5c49b0) — 7/16/2008 @ 5:15 am

I don’t expect much good to come from whoever Zell hires. Zell is utterly clueless about the news business. He is bringing in folks like Lee Abrams who made Clear Channel what it is today – utter dumb-down dreck. Read the idiotic memos his team puts out, “COMPLETE” with all caps and subliterate sentence construction. There is no concern about correcting errors or bias. It’s all about show, no substance.

This is one of Abrams’ pearls — how to redo the opinion section:

*Re-brand it as “OBSERVATIONS” instead of “editorials”. A wider spanning forum for opinion.

*Turn the format over to design team for a re-think on the look.

*Here’s how I’d envision the page;

–A photo that capsulate the topic at hand to draw people in. Could be a cartoon. But front and center. Big.

–Then in very eye friendly manner, headings: ((Jackson Obama as example)

THE ISSUE: JESSIE JACKSON vs.. OBAMA

POINT: A “Jessie is Right” opinion

COUNTERPOINT: A Jessie is nuts” opinion

THE LOCAL OPINION: A web based survey ILLUSTRATING what YOUR community thinks. GRAPHICS!!!

THE GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE: Headlines from newspapers around the globe, nation or region.

WHAT WE THINK: A SHORT overview of the newspapers’ opinion.

If you do this EVERY DAY, you’ll see far greater interest in the page…an easy to read, but smart page, a page that is truly a centerpiece of opinion from all corners…a more compelling read that includes ALL key viewpoints that will alleviate your “bias” perception.

…and of course a blatantly obvious drive to the web for more discussion.

…and keeping everything in that zone between eletist and in your face. If Newspapers were radio you’d want to be in a smart place between CSPAN/NPR (Smart but very limited) and some Goofy Top 40 station that is annoying to anyone over 13. If it were music, a place between a hard core classical piece and a fleeting junk culture hit. This “intellectual positioning can keep you MASS APPEAL…but also smart.

Bradley J Fikes (0ea407) — 7/16/2008 @ 5:52 am

“In Los Angeles there are hundreds of talented writers the papers routinely ignore. Why?”..(from the Hugh Hewitt link at #6).

Because these writers are not oriented towards New York. The ivory tower offices of the Los Angeles Times exist only on East Coast Time. Pacific Time is way too provincial for the editors and publishers of the LAT. Except to endorse Antonio Villaraigosa for mayor.

C. Norris (cbd5fc) — 7/16/2008 @ 8:16 am

Nobody likes to see mass layoffs. But what’s left of the Times staff continues to write and print stuff that’s driving reader/customers away in droves. If a story involves President Bush, it’s tough to distinguish the LAT from the Huffington Post. That’s fair enough on the editorial pages; but in the Times case, the attacks start on the front page and the staff keeps on giving as it were all the way through the classified section. There are plenty of journalistic faults to go around–and so the paper will get skinnier with a smaller staff because people don’t care to put up with that stuff–and cancel their subscriptions.

Now if you told me that Tim Rutten, Harvey Weinstein and Al Martinez had got the boot, then I’d believe that the Times was trying to clean up its act.

Mike Myers (31af82) — 7/16/2008 @ 8:25 am

Fikes, you sure you didn’t just make up that? Sheesh its vapid. ( I’m sure you didn’t make it up, it is just hard to believe how vacuous that is. )

SPQR (26be8b) — 7/16/2008 @ 8:50 am

Chuck Philips was a great reporter, and it’s a pitiful right-wing noise machine that forced him out. I think my friends will back me up on this.

Hichael Miltzik (56479d) — 7/16/2008 @ 9:31 am

Hichael, you’re exactly right. I hope Patterico is happy ruining this good man’s reputation.

Mikekoshi (56479d) — 7/16/2008 @ 9:31 am

Amen, brothers who are actually different people, I swear. All hail Chuck Philips.

nofanofcablecos (56479d) — 7/16/2008 @ 9:32 am

ROFL. That’s pretty good.

Patterico, you made Phillips publish a story based on documents forged by a notorious imprisoned loon … you magnificent bastard!

SPQR (26be8b) — 7/16/2008 @ 9:33 am

Chuck Philips was a great reporter, and the memos are real. And I, too, am not Michael Hiltzik or Chuck Philips. Really. I swear.

Myychael Hyltzyyk (56479d) — 7/16/2008 @ 9:33 am

what a surprise: my post last night hasn’t made through moderation there…. think this one today will?

“i *knew* you wouldn’t post my comment, as it didn’t fit into your “po’ us” meme…..

it is this sort of intellectual mendacity that makes the Slimes the POS it is, not the owner. y’all refuse to look at any other view point than your own, or acknowledge the possibility that you might be wrong about something.

while we’re on the subject of intellectual courage, or lack there of,i have to laugh at these brave defenders of “freedom of the press” anonymous, one and all…

y’all are moral cowards too, and i know you won’t post this one either, but you can read it over at Patterico, whom i predict will still be providing news & opinion long after the Times building is converted into lofts.”

redc1c4 (5c9f54) — 7/16/2008 @ 12:52 pm

redc1c4 — comments on this blog are not moderated in advance. Some comments, for reasons I can’t explain, do get hung up in a spam filter that runs on WordPress. Neither Patterico nor his guest posters know what’s hung up there unless we go look. In nearly every case the comment that is delayed is cleared.

WLS (cb5f32) — 7/16/2008 @ 12:57 pm

WLS, my impression was that redc1c4 was complaining about moderation on the LAT website.

SPQR (26be8b) — 7/16/2008 @ 1:01 pm

24 & 25:

i was actually talking about the “tellzell” blob….

what a bunch of whiners they are…. %-)

redc1c4 (5c9f54) — 7/16/2008 @ 1:07 pm

SPQR,
Fikes, you sure you didn’t just make up that? Sheesh its vapid. ( I’m sure you didn’t make it up, it is just hard to believe how vacuous that is. )

Hard to believe, I know. But these are Clear Channel folks, remember — radio at its very worst. Here’s some more slop water from Abrams’ trough of vision:

–The “Our Town is Different” crutch. Yes–towns ARE different!!!!! But I keep hearing that line being used as a reason to resist evolution. The key is to REALLY REALLY know your target…in 2008 and be a vital part of it in the way you look, smell and feel. ‘Our Town is Different” —yes. Agree. NOW…reflect it in 2008. Our town is different shouldn’t be an excuse to NOT evolve with your town….REALLY, TRULY get into the vibe of your town. I think the New York Times AND Post do a great job at reflecting aspects of the madness and intellect of New York. Overseas papers are often tied at the hip with their community. Here in the USA,
most papers look the same. I say–YES! Towns are different…now reflect it. On today’s terms. Here in Chicago, it’s a vibrant ever changing
city…LA is the culture capital of the world. I’m confident both of those papers will TRULY get the spirit of their cities in 2008 and reach new heights. It’s a 360 degree thing…not just editorial opinion…but look, feel, smell, style, attitude…these are all TOOLS for success that need to work together. Your history in a city ain’t going to cut it. It’s GOOD, but you need ALL the tools to compete.

Bradley J. Fikes (25cd7f) — 7/16/2008 @ 1:42 pm

Come gather ’round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around LA have grown
And accept it that soon
Your ink will be dry as a bone.
If your Times to you
Was worth savin’
Then you better start swimmin’
Or you’ll sink like a stone
For the Times they are a-fadin’.

Come writers and critics
Who proseltyze with pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won’t come again
And don’t speak too soon
For your sure to still spin
Because there’s no tellin’ who
You’ll be namin’.
For the guy losin’ now
Might be later to win
For the Times they are a-fadin’.

Come senators, congressmen
Come Democrats all
Don’t stand in the doorway
Don’t block up the hall
For it’s we that get hurt
When you hinder and stall
There’s a battle for honor
And it is ragin’.
It’ll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the Times they are a-fadin’.

Boomer mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
Munch brie and criticize
What they can’t understand
Their sons and our daughters
Are beyond their command
The Weatherman’s road is
Rapidly agin’.
Please step out of the way
If you can’t lend your hand
For the Times they are a-fadin’.

The line it is drawn
Your curse has been cast
The leading one now
Will later be last
As the present today
Will tomorrow be past
The leftist order is
Rapidly fadin’.
And the “paper of record”
Will soon join at half-mast
For all those Times they are a-fadin’.

cfbleachers (4040c7) — 7/16/2008 @ 1:44 pm

The Times retracted the story because a part of it was incorrectly sourced, not because the theory was incorrect. (I know it’s a difficult distinction for a man with a mind like oatmeal.) The theory itself has never been disproved. Two facts have – one is that the police never tried hard enough to solve the case. The other is that the LA times theory is the theory to which Tupac himself subscribed. As for the ad hominem attacks –No, I’m not a journalist. Just someone who followed this case and doesn’t like racist undertones of the police failures. Moreover, I find your tone and malice intolerable.

Patrick (43a3f0) — 7/20/2008 @ 9:40 pm

By contrast, I love your tone!

You might try reading the retraction again to see why the paper said it was retracted.

Patterico (cb443b) — 7/20/2008 @ 9:43 pm

What I’m saying (and this will be the last time I’ll visit this place) is that there’s a difference between retracting a story and disproving a theory. I can see why, for legal purposes, a publication may need to retract a piece which is partially based on inauthentic docs. However, the underlying theory may still be accurate. And there may be other sources supporting the theory which, for legal reasons, the LAT wouldn’t be likely to reveal. Why would they show there whole hand?

patrick (43a3f0) — 7/21/2008 @ 3:23 pm

What I’m saying (and this will be the last time I’ll visit this place)

Then who cares what you’re saying? If all you’re here to do is drop more of your verbal diarrhea combined with mental constipation, why should anyone care beyond making sure not to step in it as they pass?

EnemArt is something that is only celebrated in the movies, not in real life.

Drumwaster (5ccf59) — 7/21/2008 @ 3:26 pm

7/15/2008

Chuck Philips Out at L.A. Times

33 Responses to “Chuck Philips Out at L.A. Times”

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