Sunday resurrection and roundup

Billionaires to the rescue? 

The Chronicle of Philanthropy has an opinion piece calling on the deep pocketed to assist daily newspapers in their struggle to keep communities informed. 

I don't know. This feels too late and short sighted, since newspaper owners who think they know how to survive the game are usually the first to find out how little they really know.

Just ask the people working there: Romenesko. 

At this point, big checks would seem to do more to stave off the inevitable than rescue an industry that for too long lacked the humility to break up bad management structures. Instead it gutted newsrooms to ensure those at the top got their legacy pensions.

As scary fast as changes are coming now, it feels as if the corporate lamentations that pitted bottom lines against journalistic values have started to quiet. The stagnant business culture is starting to face its mortality. New lines of thought are sprouting.

Our job is to keep pushing the principles of good journalism (SCOTUSblog has gotten well-deserved attention today for doing just that) and hope the new business models coalesce around them.

Because with the big-check largesse of a single person or foundation comes demands. Look at the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, which must contend with the singular benevolence of billionaire businessman and art (institution) collector Eli Broad: WWLA. 

Does this mean the L.A. Times should turn the $1-million grant from the Ford Foundation? No. But the survival of news gathering institutions is going to depend on the largesse of lots of little checks: donors, members, subscribers, listeners, readers, watchers. 

My influence is profound

Washington Post staff writer Ezra Klein asked readers of his Wonkbook blog to come up with a name for his daily list of five headlines published every morning. I suggested "Five in the morning," a recommendation that proves my creativity is limited to plagiarizing myself* and adding one. From Klein:

Housekeeping: “High Five” and “Fab Five” were definitely the most popular suggestions to replace “Top Stories.” I also liked “Starting Five” and “Gang of Five.” But the winner, from Gary Scott, managed to flatter the odd hours Dylan, Michelle and I keep to bring Wonkbook out. So, introducing:

Five in the morning

*I haven't yet decided whether to retire my occasional "four in the morning/afternoon" list. I probably should, and take the opportunity to "innovate" on my own blog.

Oh, and since I'm self-promoting - today is my first day as supervising producer at KCRW. Here's the note Warren Olney sent to staff:

Gary Scott has been promoted to the new job of Supervising Producer for "To the Point" and "Which Way, LA?"  He'll be in charge of editorial issues and centralized planning, including development of our New Media activities and their integration with what we do on the air. His duties will also extend to KCRW's other news operations on "Morning Edition" and "All Things Considered."  Karen Radziner will continue to be our Managing Producer. 

The "other news operations" he refers to are the local news reports that run in the breaks of Morning Edition and All Things Considered.

Say what?

KCRW General Manager Jennifer Ferro talked to the Los Angeles Times about the threat to the station if Congress ends federal funding of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Her doomsday scenario hits kind of close to home.

If the station loses that government support and can’t raise the money elsewhere, it would likely have to cut its most costly operations—local news and information gathering, Ferro said. A couple of producers hired in November to create more local news stories would have to go, she said, as might some staffers who help create talk shows like “To the Point” and “Which Way, L.A.?” both popular mainstays, hosted by veteran newsman Warren Olney.

Four in the morning

1. The AOL-Huffington Post deal is great, as long as you don't care much for journalism. LAT

2. If you have the data, the guvment will help you map it. IssueMap (via Nieman Lab)

3. Arianna Huffington trumpets the AOL-Huffington Post deal; Marc Cooper and others analyze the consequences for online and offline news operations in Southern California. WWLA?

4. Paul Haggis vs. the Church of Scientology. New Yorker

Four in the morning

1. The MOCA whitewash story is waiting to break nationally. fishbowlLA

2. The battle over the Hollywood farmer's market. Which Way, LA?

3. AOL's Patch opens another shop in Long Beach. LA Observed

4. Huffington Post says it will turn a profit. Bloomberg

Mysterious contrail just a plane

Jonathan McDowell of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics told Warren Olney last night that the media can call off the missile search. The mysterious contrail that some surmised resulted from an errant or secret missile launch was mostly likely a jet liner (US Airways Flight 808 from Honolulu to Phoenix, to be precise) flying across the horizon on an unusually clear day. WWLA

J. Gold apologizes to Paula Deen

The announcement of a Tournament of Roses grand marshal often gets worldwide attention, even if it's not a particularly newsworthy event (person chosen to ride in car and wave at people). Tuesday, the announcement became newsworthy when Pulitzer Prize-winning food critic Jonathan Gold let fly with his unvarnished opinion of Paula Deen, the 2011 marshal, for her embrace of Twinkie-pie cuisine.

Today, Gold, apparently feeling somewhat badly about his reaction, penned an apology letter to Deen, saying he treated her as a brand rather than a person. From the letter:

But our mutual friends say that you are delightful. You clearly love food. And I know that if we were to sit down together, we would probably get along just fine - I suspect that you, like me, could talk for an hour about the finer points of grits, or country ham, or pie crust without beginning to exhaust the topic. I realize that your recipes reflect the way people actually do cook in the South, rather than the way they think they should cook; that they skew toward getting dinner on the table as opposed to an Olympian ideal.

Deen is as charming and good-natured as any Southerner could be. But having grown up myself in a home with Southern-influenced cooking that often relied on the horrible, refined ingredients offered by chain supermarkets, and having since been converted to be more adventurous with ethnic foods and fresher ingredients, I think Gold had a good point that he shouldn't let go of - even if he's sorry about the way he framed it. He'll be on tonight's "Which Way, LA?" to expand on his thoughts. Listen here starting at 7 p.m.

Four in the morning

1. Former Baltimore Sun reporter David Simon wins a "genius" grant largely for his work on "The Wire." Baltimore Sun

2. Huffington Post to Mayhill Fowler: "How do you resign from a job you never had?" Yahoo

3. NPR praises the LA Times for Bell stories. NPR

4. Tonight's gubernatorial debate between Jerry Brown and Meg Whitman airs live on KCRW 89.9, followed by political analysis on "Which Way, LA?" WWLA

Bell and the Brown Act

It's unlikely that anyone in the city of Bell wants to see the City Council reconsider its decision slash the exorbitant salaries of its four highest paid members by 90 percent. But someone probably could.

That's because the Bell City Council almost certainly violated the state's open-meetings law at least twice - and probably three times - in the course of Monday's raucous meeting (hear more about the meeting here).

First, the council headed into closed session to discuss several potential lawsuits stemming from the salary scandal without first allowing the public to speak. Then, the council voted to make the salary cuts without first letting the public speak. Finally, agenda item that was supposed to alert the public that council salaries might be slashed made no mention that a vote would be taken.

 All of these are potential violations of the state's open-meetings law, known as the Brown Act, which requires, among other things, that the public be allowed to speak before any final decision is made. Bell's own agenda spells this out (the .pdf version is here): "Pursuant to the Ralph M. Brown Act, public comments may be received on these items prior to the time action is taken by the City Council."

Even a court agreed the violations occurred, the punishment would hardly fit the crime: A judge would probably be forced to rescind the vote and restore the salaries until the council acted in the right way.

But even technical violations of the law should be pointed out to ensure the public learns it's rights. Also, it was clear the hundreds of people who attended Monday's meeting wanted the council members to hear their displeasure before any action was taken. Indeed, most speakers wanted the council members to resign.

Is anyone going to sue to force the council to redo the vote? Doubtful. But this does serve as evidence that the council, whatever it is paid, still doesn't understand it's role as a representative government.

The Bell City Council and me

Might as well self-promote...

Bell's City Council voted to cut its pay by 90 percent last night, but residents still want heads to roll. As a recall effort gets underway, state and local prosecutors are investigating possible crimes and local officials are calling for an outside audit. On tonight's "Which Way, LA?" we talk to Bell residents, a representative of the police officers' union and political expert Raphe Sonenshein. Your blogger (and the show's producer) makes an appearance, too. Shudder. Here's the link.

Of mosques and salary abuses

On tonight's "Which Way, LA?" we'll talk about the dust-up over a planned mosque in the Temecula Valley, with Pastor Bill Rench and Salam al-Marayati of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, and the political conditions that led to the city of Bell's salary scandal, with Cristina Garcia of the Bell Association to Stop the Abuse and Bob Stern of the Center for Governmental Studies. Program starts at 7 p.m. on 89.9 KCRW, or stream it at kcrw.com/whichwayla.

Four in the morning

1. The bathroom at the Santa Monica Pier is a finalist in the "America's Best Restroom" contest (and, yes, there's a blog). Cintas Corporation

2. Pomona City Hall is all about public service. A Pomona Councilwoman resigned her seat only to get reappointed to it by her colleagues, all part of a stunt to boost her public retirement pay. Inland Valley Daily Bulletin

3. Slake editor Laurie Ochoa, formerly of the LA Weekly, talks about the effort to put out a high-quality, printed literary magazine in the age of the Internet. WWLA?

4. Texas journalism is getting smaller, as Hearst makes the first moves toward consolidation at its Houston and San Antonio papers. Poynter

Escalante's legacy*

On tonight's "Which Way, LA?", Warren Olney talks about Jaime Escalante's impact on teaching in Los Angeles with Washington Post education columnist Jay Mathews, who wrote "Escalante: The Best Teacher in America"; decorated elementary school teacher Rafe Esquith, and two of Escalante's former students, East Los Angeles attorney Sandra Munoz and Garfield High School administrator Javier Gonzalez. Escalante died Tuesday at age 79.

The shows runs at 7:30 p.m. tonight on KCRW 89.9 FM and can be streamed or podcast at www.kcrw.com/whichwayla.

*Update: A memorial for Escalante will be held at Garfield High School, 5101 E. Sixth St., on Thursday, April 1, at 7 p.m.

News on the lack of news

On Tuesday's "Which Way, LA?," host Warren Olney talks with Martin Kaplan, head of USC's Norman Lear Center, and Stacy Woelfel, chairman of the Radio, Television and Digital New Association, about last week's "Local TV News in the Los Angeles Media Market" report, which found very little news, local or otherwise, on local television news broadcasts. Here's a link to the segment, which begins about the :28 minute mark.

(Coincidentally, LA Times media critic James Rainey weighs in on the report here.)

Hear Jerry run

California Attorney General Jerry Brown talks about his race for governor on "Which Way, LA?" with Warren Olney. The interview starts at the 27 minute mark.

Haiti and MOCA on WWLA

On tonight’s “Which Way, LA?,” we’ll talk to local fire and earthquake experts, as well as community members, about efforts to help in the wake of Haiti's devastating earthquake. Also tonight, the Museum of Contemporary Art has a new director – we’ll hear from Jeffrey Deitch. The show starts at 7:30 p.m. on KCRW, 89.9 FM.

The guests on the Haiti segment are Matt Levesque with the Los Angeles County Fire Department; Tigeorges (George) Laguerre, owner of TiGeorges restaurant in Echo Park; Caltech seismologist Kate Hutton, and journalist Amy Wilentz, author of "The Rainy Season: Haiti Since Duvalier."

The home front

California leads the nation in home foreclosures, and there will be a lot more in the coming year. But banks aren't putting enough cheap homes on the market to satisfy the demand. We speak with Leslie Berkman of the Press-Enterprise, Rick Sharga of RealtyTrac, Tom Moon, founder of REObroker.com, and a frustrated would-be homebuyer. The segment starts at 7:34. Which Way, LA?

Ruth Seymour to step down at KCRW*

A major shift is coming to KCRW. Ruth Seymour informed employees last night that she plans to step down as the station's general manager at the end of February. Seymour has headed the station since 1977. Under stewardship KCRW developed into a major public radio radio voice.

Here's her email to staff:

Dear Staff,

I want to give you a heads-up on some dramatic news.

I’ve made the decision to retire as General Manager at the end of February. I will be speaking personally to many of you in the coming weeks but I wanted to make sure that you heard this from me before it becomes more public.

For almost all of you, I am the only manager you’ve known. Some of you go back with me to John Adams Jr. High. We have a lot of history together.

We have created a family of sorts down in the basement. We have laughed and cried together, quarreled and made up. We’ve welcomed new wives and husbands and lots of babies, some of whom plan to run the station themselves someday.

The College is required to engage in certain procedures to choose a new manager and they have embarked on the process. I will be here to hand off the station to my successor.

Nothing is harder than to announce that you’re leaving and then try to manage for the next few months. So I hope you’ll make it easy for me.

I’m attaching a letter which will be sent to the membership. Please read it.

I’m sure I’ll get a chance to talk individually to everyone of you in the days to come.

With love and gratitude – Ruth

A copy of Seymour's letter to KCRW members is here.

Warren Olney discussed Seymour's announcement on tonight's "Which Way, LA?"

*UPDATE: The Los Angeles Times has a good story today about the timing of Seymour's resignation. Here's an excerpt:

Her departure comes at a time when the station is seen to be in transition. Despite its reputation for superlative programming -- including its signature music and public affairs shows, such as "Morning Becomes Eclectic," "Which Way, L.A.?" and "To the Point" -- KCRW lags behind other public radio stations in local-area ratings.

In October, the month in which the most recent ratings are available, KCRW placed 30th in the Los Angeles-Orange County market, with 1% of the total audience ages 6 and older. Classical station KUSC-FM (91.5) was 19th at 2.3%, while KPCC placed 24th at 1.8%.

But KCRW officials have challenged the ratings system, which they say undercounts the station's true audience.

KCRW is looking to broaden its appeal nationally through digital initiatives such as streaming and podcasting. Seymour felt that having someone else in the general manager role might help the station more quickly realize that goal.

"It's going to be a new era," she said. "Time to begin without me."

Also, I assumed it goes without saying that I work at KCRW as a producer for "Which Way, LA?" and "To The Point." However, assuming is never a good thing to do.

Letter to Fielding

Callie Schweitzer, a reporter for USC's Neon Tommy, published an open letter to Dr. Jonathan Fielding, head of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, asking again that he sit down with reporters from the student-run website and answer questions about how the county records deaths from the H1N1 flu.

Schweitzer and Fielding appeared together on Tuesday's "Which Way, LA?," but Fielding declined to interact with her.

Here's a portion of her letter:

After listening to what you had to say, I realized we share many of the same goals: we both want people to take the H1N1 virus seriously and be properly informed on the risks and the situation in L.A. County.

It seems only fitting that the leading public health official in the county would have a conversation with Neon Tommy, the leading voice of the public on swine flu. We have much to gain by joining forces and helping to educate the public.

The complete letter is here. Neon Tommy's story about H1N1 deaths in LA County is here.

Hyperlocal in L.A.

The "hyperlocal" journalism movement is the topic on today's "Which Way, LA?" The guests are Frank Gruber, a columnist at the Santa Monica Lookout News and attorney; Judy Muller, associate professor of journalism at the University of Southern California; Leo Wolinsky, former Metro editor at the Los Angeles Times and co-founder of The Journalism Shop, and Julian Do, Southern California director of New America Media. The show, which starts at 7:30 p.m., was produced by Frances Anderton.