New LAT publisher fires editor who rebelled against staff cuts, pens op-ed about squash with Rummy

[DeepModem Mom]

Editor&Publisher: 'L.A. Times' Publisher Pens Piece for Opinion Page -- On Playing Squash With Donald Rumsfeld
By E&P Staff
Published: November 13, 2006

NEW YORK -- The timing might seem a bit odd to some -- his recent dismissal of Editor Dean Baquet rankled his newsroom -- but David Hiller, the newly arrived publisher of the Los Angeles Times has penned a piece for the paper's Opinion page on another influential figure who has lost his job.

The Hiller article -- also featured prominently on the newspaper's Web site -- recalled his days in the late 1990s playing squash in Chicago with Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld. Hiller admitted Rumsfeld "beat me almost all the time" even though he was "almost old enough" to be his father -- as Rumsfeld was happy to point out....

"I think what struck me most was that Don never gave up on a point. His view was that every shot could be made, every game could be won, and he never surrendered until the last volley was played out. With me he was usually right.

"Were these the qualities he brought to his job as secretary of Defense? I'm not sure, but I suspect that the rules he lived by were the same ones he played by, and I thought of them again as I watched the president announce Don's resignation."

Meanwhile, the popular blog, LAObserved, revealed that Hiller has donated $9,500 to various Republican candidates or the Republican National Committee since 2000, based on F.E.C. filings. In 1999 he donated to both then-Governor George Bush and Sen. John McCain.

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003381262

[goclark]

1. LA Times lost me when they cut Robert Scheer

Sheer was the best, too right wing for met now.

[RagingInMiami]

2. The L.A. Times used to be one of the greatest papers in this country

And now they're on the verge of being bought out by Gannett. It's sickening.

[DeepModem Mom]

3. The Gannett possibility sickens me, too -- and terrifies someone I know well...

who works at the LAT.

[diva77]

5. It's part of the Rovian plan to take CA - LA County is the largest

jurisdiction in the US. It can swing any federal or state election. They endorsed the Republican SoS incumbent, McPherson, but luckily people had the wherewithal in LA County to swing the election for Bowen. Angelides won in LA too, but not enuf to swing the election.

http://vote.ss.ca.gov/Returns/sec/19.htm
http://vote.ss.ca.gov/Returns/gov/19.htm

The LA Times lost my patronage when they turned the editorial section into a series of idiotic comic strips. :puffpiece:

[Art_from_Ark]

7. The Arkansas Gazette was bought out by Gannett

At one time, the Arkansas Gazette, established in 1819, was the oldest daily newspaper west of the Mississippi. The newspaper won many awards, including the Pulitzer Prize in 1958 for its reporting of the Little Rock/Central High crisis. It was a breath of fresh air in a conservative state. But for some reason it fell on hard times, or it was inherited by people who did not want to continue its tradition, and it was sold out to Gannett. After that, the newspaper became plagued with problems, such as home delivery becoming unreliable at best, and after a few years the once proud Gazette was sold to cross-town rival (and conservative fishwrap) Arkansas Democrat.

RIP Arkansas Gazette

[TexasLawyer]

4. Hiller sounds like a pompous

right-wing name dropper.

[americanstranger]

6. Didn't the NYT run a 'playing squash with Rummy' story

just a couple of weeks ago?

Why, yes...yes they did...

For the last six years, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has slipped down to the Pentagon basement many afternoons, changed into a T-shirt, sweat pants and headband, and spent a heart-thumping hour playing squash.

http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F20F16F635550C778EDDA00894DE404482

WTF?

- as