Four in the morning*

1. Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina wasn't hiking the Appalachian Trail on Father's Day weekend, as his office staff claimed. Instead, he was caught in Atlanta by a reporter from The State getting off a plane from Argentina. Sanford told the reporter he'd wanted to do something "exotic." Needless to say, there's still plenty of skepticism about the governor's story. He's scheduled to hold a press conference at 2 p.m. Eastern today. The State

*Updated: In his presser, Sanford admits to having an affair with an Argentinian woman, says he'll resign as head of the Republican Governors Association. Calls for his resignation as governor will inevitably follow.

2. Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez has some more bad news for Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Lopez writes:

I hate to be the bearer of more bad news, but I've been gathering up the results of polling at the 10 schools that for the last year have been under the mayor's wing, and there's no way to sugarcoat this.

At eight of the 10 campuses, the mayor's Partnership for Los Angeles Schools got a resounding thumbs down from teachers.

3. First Lady Michelle Obama makes her first visit to California since becoming First Lady... again. LA Observed

4. Rainey vs. Stewart, round 3. LA Weekly (via LA Observed)

Lopez addresses Soloist ad

In today's Los Angeles Times, columnist Steve Lopez briefly addresses the criticism of the paper's Sunday advertorial promoting Lopez's movie "The Soloist":

In case you're wondering, I'm here at the request of the Japanese distributor of the movie "The Soloist," and to meet with the publishers of a certain book by the same name. I'm not going to say much more about that, given the flap over the Sunday movie promotion in The Times that drew some complaints from readers and colleagues.

For the record, I wish it had looked a little less like a news section, and would have said so if I'd seen it before publication. On the other hand, ad revenue pays for the journalism we do, and I thought the section was a fair summary of how the filmmakers got to know my friend Mr. Nathaniel Anthony Ayers and were inspired by him, as I have been.

Fake news generates real coverage

The Los Angeles Times ran a real story in today's business section about a fake story that made yesterday's front-page touting a new NBC television show called Southland.

I'd never heard of Southland until this dust up, which indicates to me that the ad has proven to be fairly effective. I wonder how much of the "significant premium" Publisher Eddy Hartenstein charged NBC for A1 placement went toward the predictable controversy and the media attention that be generated as a result?

A journalism professor tells the Times why fake news stories are ethically troubling:

"It's unwise and ethically problematic to have advertising morph into news content and style," said Bob Steele, a journalism values scholar at the Poynter Institute and a professor at DePauw University. "Each step may seem like a small one. But each time you cut a corner, you create weakness in the overall product."

And expect more controversy, and more media attention, from another ad in the Times for another dramatic production:

Staff members also objected to an advertising supplement scheduled to run with Sunday's Calendar section. The four-page section promotes the film "The Soloist," which is based on a series of articles by Times columnist Steve Lopez. Although labeled as an ad supplement, the section's typography and layout mimic those of a regular Times news section.

LAT, LAO, fishbowlLA, WSJ, NYT

Paying for mistakes

Steve Lopez on L.A.'s public school system, Superintendent David Brewer's generous expense account and the school board that pays for it all (with taxpayer money).