Regarding Los Angeles Times Dismissal of Robert Scheer--Annoying LAT Reply

[davidlynch]

I wrote this note to the Los Angeles Times publisher Jeff Johnson:

Jeff,

I am an LA Times Reader and I've lived here in the southland all my life. I wanted to ask you with great respect to reinstate Robert Scheer. I have read almost all of his work since the 2000 elections, and I learned to respect his views. Recent events have vindicated him. Note the recent turmoil within the Bush Administration over Iraq, the Valerie Plame issue and so many others.

As far as I can tell, Robert has been correct on every virtually every point. And more than ever, we need an open channel of dissent. If he was let go for ideological reasons, that's reprehensible and should be fixed.

Sincerely,
Dave

Here is Jeff's response:

Dear Reader:

I appreciate your letting us know how you feel about our decision to stop running Robert Scheer's weekly Op-Ed column. For the past 12 years, Bob's passion and eloquence have enriched the opinion pages of The Times where he previously worked as a reporter. We are grateful for his contributions.

However, we are very excited about our new roster of columnists, who are described in more detail in the attached link. Our goal, as always, is to provide you with the widest possible range of commentary on local, national and foreign affairs. Please take the time to get to know our new columnists. We hope you will find them as provocative and engaging as we do, and that over time, you will develop a rewarding relationship with them.

We truly appreciate your loyalty to the Los Angeles Times. You are a valued reader, and we don't want to lose you. You have my pledge that in no way will we back away from the diversity of voices and viewpoints that you've always expected from The Times.

Thank you again for writing, and please continue to let us know how we are doing.

Sincerely,
Jeff Johnson

How does this strike you, fellow DUers?

[bahrbearian]

1. I quess they really don't like the Truth.,,Let alone printing it.

[LibDemAlways]

2. It's a non-response and

similar to what I received when I cancelled in 2001 after they had the nerve to pair a hatchet job on Hillary just after Clinton left office with an article fawning over Pickles. I let them know exactly why I was cancelling and received a "we don't want to lose you and we hope you'll reconsider" reply which did not address the specific reason for the cancellation.

They no doubt have lost many subscribers over Scheer. Suicidal for them to lean so far right in a largely Democratic city.

[nini]

3. Strikes me as a polite 'we don't really care' note

It's their prerogative of course but I don't see how dropping Scheer's column was necessary. If they want to add other points of view then fine. But to cut it off is what is telling of where they're going.

Don't subscribe. To hell with them.

[davidlynch]

5. That's how I feel--It's a blow-off--very condescending--fuck them

[peace frog]

8. Right, a polite version of "fuck you very much"

:grr:

[MrScorpio]

4. It's Official:

FUCK the LA times

[davidlynch]

6. Robert Scheer thinks the decision was ideological (See Text Inside)

AMY GOODMAN: Robert Scheer, I wanted to read you some comments of the people in charge. We did try to get someone on, but they didn't respond. Andres Martinez, the editorial page editor, said, “The opinion pages are our newspaper's town square. Our readers expect us to publish all points of view and the broadest range of opinion, from those of our editorial board and columnists to those of our readers and op-ed contributors. And we intend to do exactly that.” The Los Angeles Times publisher, Jeffrey Johnson, said, “You’ve got a new editorial page editor and a new publisher. We sat down and talked about the pages and decided to make changes.” The Times op-ed editor, the opinion editor Nicholas Goldberg, said, “I think we have put together a smart, original and provocative team of writers who reflect a variety of interesting and thoughtful perspectives on local, national and foreign affairs. A good column involves a relationship developed with readers over time, and I invite our readers to develop their relationships with these engaging minds in the weeks and months to come.” Your response, Robert Scheer?

ROBERT SCHEER: You know, somebody who could say that, when all isn’t said, they can condone anything. We talk about a free press. These people hide, they make a lot of money off the media. They hide behind the slogans of free press, and then they can come out with crap like that. It’s just garbage. It’s insulting to the readers. They know I have a strong -- not only that I have a strong relation to readers, but so did Ramirez, the cartoonist. You know, it’s just gibberish.

[goclark]

7. The LA Times is not reflecting the values

of its community.

I will never buy one again because Robert Sheer was the best!

[Throd]

9. I cancelled last week

The firing of Scheer and Mike Ramirez was the final blow for me. I found both of them to be maddening and thought provoking at the same time. I subscribed solely for the Opinion section. Now they have some crap feature called Current that more resembles USA Today or People Magazine. My god, how far they have fallen in a few short years.

[OrangeCountyDemocrat]

10. I'm Shocked They Didn't Reinstate Him....

Want to know why? They Don't Give A Shit what you think, or even what the other Scheer fans might think. They made a business/political decision, and he's long gone, and never coming back.

I guess if you want to continue reading him, you'll have to find the online site for the paper in San Fran that I think hired him. Proves that if you've got talent, you'll find a suitable alternative...even if it's not the lowly LA Times.

[Canuckistanian]

11. It's a Bot letter

They probably just don't have time to answer the THOUSANDS of letters and emails about Scheer.

[susu369]

12. Strikes me as

Main Entry: form letter
Function: noun
1 : a letter on a subject of frequent recurrence that can be sent to different people without essential change except in the address
2 : a letter for mass circulation that is printed in many copies and has a very general salutation (as Dear Friend)

www.m-w.com