Robert Scheer fired from LA Times after 30 years
<http://warrenreports.tpmcafe.com/story/2005/11/12/03818/819>
By cloudy From: Media Table Robert Scheer, one of the best known investigative journalists and political writers to the left of the mainstream of the Democratic Party in the US, just got canned by the LA Times after being there for 30 years. He said that no explanation was given. Here's what he had to say about it at The Huffington Post, where he says that his column will be appearing:
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-scheer/on-leaving-the-la-tim _b_10509.html>
On Friday I was fired as a columnist by the publisher of the Los Angeles Times, where I have worked for thirty years. The publisher, Jeff Johnson, who has offered not a word of explanation to me, has privately told people that he hated every word that I wrote. I assume that mostly refers to my exposing the lies used by President Bush to justify the invasion of Iraq.
Fortunately sixty percent of Americans now get the point, but only after tens of thousand of Americans and Iraqis have been killed and maimed as the carnage spirals out of control. My only regret is that my pen was not sharper and my words tougher.
Starting Wednesday morning, my column will be appearing here on the Huffington Post.
Nov 12, 2005 -- 12:38:17 AM EST
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Ramirez and Scheer React to Being Cut by 'LA Times'
By Dave Astor
Published: November 11, 2005 5:44 PM ET
<http://www.mediainfo.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001 478619>
NEW YORK Conservative editorial cartoonist Michael Ramirez thinks the Los Angeles Times is letting him go for both budgetary and ideological reasons. Liberal columnist Robert Scheer, who's also being dropped, believes the reason is mostly ideological in his case.
Scheer told E&P he heard that one higher-up at the Times "couldn't stand" the progressive nature of his column, which in recent years included anti-Iraq War commentary.
"I didn't expect any flowers, but to be canned while doing some of my best work is confusing," he said.
Scheer -- who thinks the Times' new mix of Op-Ed columns leans more conservative -- added that, as a Times contributor rather than staffer, he hadn't been costing the paper much money.
Times Op-Ed Editor Nicholas Goldberg defended the opinion-page changes in a Times article (E&P Online, Nov. 11). "I think we've 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," he was quoted as saying. He added: "I don't think these changes are going to move the page to the left or the right."
Still, Scheer emphasized that he enjoyed his 29 years with the Times (the first 17 as a full-time reporter). "I had a good run," he said. "It has been a really great experience, and the Times stood behind me in the past."
Scheer -- who says he has already received about 500 e-mails from readers criticizing the Times' decision to drop him -- added that he has plenty of other things to do as co-host of a radio show, as a professor at the University of Southern California, and as editor of the TruthDig.com Web magazine launching Nov. 28. Plus he'll continue writing his column for Creators Syndicate, which distributes Scheer to more than 50 newspapers and Web sites.
In a posting at the Huffington Post blog, Scheer wrote: "The publisher Jeff Johnson, who has offered not a word of explanation to me, has privately told people that he hated every word that I wrote. I assume that mostly refers to my exposing the lies used by President Bush to justify the invasion of Iraq. Fortunately sixty percent of Americans now get the point but only after tens of thousand of Americans and Iraqis have been killed and maimed as the carnage spirals out of control. My only regret is that my pen was not sharper and my words tougher."
Ramirez also said he enjoyed his tenure at the Times, but is unhappy on several levels about being let go.
"I'm sad to be leaving the Times, but it's also a sad day for editorial cartooning that they're not going to fill the position," said Ramirez, when reached at home Friday by E&P.
The Times said it won't replace Ramirez after he departs at the end of December, meaning the paper will no longer have a staff cartoonist.
Ramirez is also unhappy that layoffs of all kinds of staffers are hurting the Times and other papers. "They're cutting meat off the bone," said the cartoonist, who won a Pulitzer Prize while with The Commercial Appeal of Memphis in 1994 and joined the Times three years later.
Copley News Service will continue to syndicate Ramirez's work to more than 400 newspapers while the cartoonist looks around to see if there's a new full-time job out there for him.
"We were shocked and surprised that the Times let Mike go, but it doesn't make any difference to us," said Copley Vice President and Editor Glenda Winders. "We'll still be syndicating him. We stand behind him 100%."
Creators President Rick Newcombe, using nearly identical language, said his syndicate is "100% behind Bob Scheer."
The former Los Angeles Times Syndicate executive also recalled working with Scheer more than two decades ago. "I encouraged him to write a column," said Newcombe. "I like columnists and cartoonists like Scheer and Ramirez who have strong opinions and are anything but dull." He noted that, as talk radio and cable news channels have shown, offering hard-hitting commentary "is a great way" to attract an audience.
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