Correction of the day

Howard Kurtz, now writing for the Daily Beast, issued a whopper correction today for a story he wrote back in November. Turns out he confused Rep. Darrell Issa's spokesman for the congressman. Here's the correx:

When I conducted the telephone interview for my Nov. 27 article on California Rep. Darrell Issa, my unambiguous understanding was that I was speaking with Rep. Issa. I subsequently learned that I was speaking to his chief spokesman, Kurt Bardella. None of the views ascribed to Issa are inaccurate, but the attribution throughout the story should have been to his spokesman, not to the congressman. We have since corrected the article. The earlier version also mentioned Darrell Issa’s “tendency to refer to himself in the third person.” In fact, that usage was appropriate because the interview was with his spokesman.

At least he corrected it, I guess.

Mistake on California's political map*

In his column today, calling for a "A Tea Party Without Nuts," New York Times columinst Thomas Friedman commends the passage of California's Proposition 11 as a way to deal with gerrymandered districts around the country. Unfortunately, he gets the facts wrong.

Here's the erroneous passage:

First, let every state emulate California’s recent grass-roots initiative that took away the power to design Congressional districts from the state legislature and put it in the hands of an independent, politically neutral, Citizens Redistricting Commission. It will go to work after the 2010 census and reshape California’s Congressional districts for the 2012 elections. Henceforth, districts in California will not be designed to be automatically Democratic or Republican — so more of them will be competitive, so more candidates will only be electable if they appeal to the center, not just cater to one party.

Except that Prop. 11 explicitly exempted Congressional districts from citizens' commission oversight. State lawmakers will continue to draw federal legislative districts, and they will continue to cut deals to protect incumbents and maintain the balance of party power in Congress. Prop. 11 only affects state Senate and Assembly districts.

The art of redistricting has gone from art to science in the past two decades, as sophisticated computer models give map drawers the ability to surgically carve up neighborhoods in ways that ensure Democratic districts stay Democratic and Republican districts stay Republican. This not only gives incumbents a great deal of protection in future elections, but keeps the majority party in the majority. Critics complain that the maps starve voters of real choice in elections and create primary election battles that reward the most ideologically pure candidates. Whether Prop. 11 significantly alters the political landscape in California remains to be seen.

Meantime, signatures are being gathered to put a measure on the November ballot to give California's citizens' commission authority to redraw Congressional districts. There's also a campaign being pushed by Rep. Howard Berman, D-Los Angeles, to undo Prop. 11 and put the redistricting back in the hands of the state Legislature.

Things aren't so simple here in California.

*A correction has been appended to Friedman's column:

An earlier version of this column misstated the terms of a recent California initiative. It will reshape districts for the state legislature, not Congressional districts.

When life gave the NY Post lemons

The Post made lemonade.

Four in the morning

1. The corrections, NYT edition. Gawker

2. The LAPD, police union and mayor of LA rely on bad statistics and an erroneous study to prove that the early release of prisoners will launch a crime wave. Witness LA

3. The not-so-black-and-white of race relations and racial profiling in America. NYT

4. Is Ann Arbors new online only paper forward thinking? Or a convenient way to mask a major slash and burn job? Chicago Tribune

LANG leaks (correction appended)

I noted three defections from LANG last week. Now a fourth: Inland Valley Daily Bulletin copy editor Edgar Acosta is saying farewell. I'm told he's going on to pursue a career in music.

Meantime, LA Observed notes that Ryan Oliver* is leaving his job at the Los Angeles Daily Journal for PR.

*D'oh! In my rush to post, I incorrectly wrote that Ryan Oliver was leaving his job at the Daily News. Oliver, as I should have known (and as a commenter rightly points out), is leaving the Los Angeles Daily Journal. I apologize for the mistake.