More "Press Release Journalism"
Suppose you're grading tests, and two kids who sit next to each other not only get the same questions wrong, but even misspell their answers in the exact same way. That's what we call circumstantial evidence of cheating -- or, if we are "culturally sensitive," we call it "cooperating." (But that's another story.)So what conclusion should you draw from the fact that today's story in the L.A. Times on the Mayor's vacation junket to China uses the same terms and cites the same sources as Orlov's Kool Aid piece for the Daily News?
Specifically, the L.A. Times article says, "Those traveling with the mayor, as well as economists in Los Angeles, said the $500,000 price tag for Villaraigosa's trip is worth the investment." Sound familiar? It gets even more familiar, when you keep reading about the "experts" -- plural -- but then you find that there's only one supposed expert. And who does that "expert" turn out to be?
You are correct, sir! Out of all the economists in the world, the L.A. Times happens to quote the very same supposed "economist" as the Daily News, namely, Mr. Jack Kyser, "chief economist with the non-profit Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp." Alas, the Times fails to mention who provides all the funding for that "non-profit," and omits to mention that the so-called "economist" has neither a doctoral, master's or bachelor's degree in economics.
In other words, the article reads just like the puff piece in Sunday's Daily News. What are the odds?
I'm guessing that the Villaraigosa camp sent out a fax press release extolling the virtues of the trip, and reporters, like lazy high school students with access to the internet or one another's papers, decided it's easier just to cut-and-paste.
Can I prove it? No. Did I see it happen? No. It could just be a crazy coincidence. But I've gotten verdicts with less powerful circumstantial evidence.
Here's the article: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-mayor9oct09,1,5137099.story .
Posted by Walter Moore @ 10/09/2006 06:56:00 AM
37 Comments:
Walter you read my mind. What is up with these idiot reporters being so kiss ass. Of course Duke Hefland of the LA e SLIMES states that "the mayor is traveling with a large group of business leaders." Why didn't he say THEY ALL CONTRIBUTED TO HIS CAMPAIGN?
I'm getting sick and tired of the puff, kiss ass stories on this mayor. Where is David Zahniser when we need him to really say what's going on over there. Didn't someone call this trip the "SEX TRIP???
TO ALL YOU SMART PEOPLE AT MAYOR SAM
--Why did AV choose China to open a tourist office?
--Where did he attend college? What's that, Peoples what?
--I smell "Parlor Maid" scenario in the future. Parlor maid had many friends, wanna bet AV has same friends?
--Is Homeland Security curious of this setup?
We have short memories:
RIORDAN AIDE WILL REIMBURSE AIRLINE.(News)
| From: Daily News (Los Angeles, CA) | Date: March 12, 1998 | More results for: airline tickets
Byline: Patrick McGreevy Daily News Staff Writer
Mayoral chief of staff Robin Kramer said Wednesday she plans to reimburse Taiwan's EVA Airways for her upgrade from business to first-class seats but that Mayor Richard Riordan had paid for first class and was not upgraded.
Kramer, Riordan and other city officials traveled from Taipei to Los Angeles on Saturday, just days after Riordan signed a multimillion-dollar agreement with Evergreen Marine Corp., the parent company of EVA Airways, to use Los Angeles Harbor for shipping for the next 32 years.
INTERESTING POST
"Anonymous said...
I think there are a few things people have missed on this story.
This was a coup against Martin who AV/Parke/Maria Elena junta could no longer control.
It is interesting that the US attorney on this case is Craig Missakian, a former client of Skelton side kick Eric Hacopian.
So we have a case of Hacopian former client getting rid of Martin, to open the door for Maria Elena.
Hacopian pay off on this, the political director position at the FED.
These people have no shame.
What's the dirty on Marco Palma AV's comopadre and son Aldo Palma?
But Gloria Porkolina - as you put it - is tied to this mess. The Feds are investigating Ludlow for illegal MTA contracts. That's what started this whole mess. Well Antonio illegally funneled several MTA contracts to Ron Martinez, Gloria's husband.
Why didn't the press report that even though Antonio, Mahony, Baca, Molina and the rest of those idiots wrote letters to free a convicted drug dealer Vignali who is white, they left 18 BLACKS IN JAIL. Vignali was the big gun and the 18 blacks were just runners but they are still in jail doing time for much less then what Vignali did.
I doubt if the blacks would have voted for Antonio if that FACT WAS PUT OUT THERE. Why didn't the newspapers report that?
Ok a lot of this is old news but today's news is the VIGNALI HAS BOUGHT TONS OF PROPERTY in downtown LA. The Feds should investigate that.
Does anyone else find it too conincidential that Antonio becomes Mayor and all of a sudden Vignali gets to buy all this property.
Yes Walter, another example of lazy contemporary journalism. As you know, this is not confined to the Times. Here's a portion of an article from the AP this am (note, not even one "economist" or "expert" is named):
"Villaraigosa was joined on his trade mission by several dozen of Los Angeles' most powerful business and labor leaders. They, as well as economists in Los Angeles, said the $500,000 price tag of the mayor's trip was worth the investment.
International trade accounts for the largest number of jobs — about 450,000 — in Los Angeles County, followed by tourism and film and television production, the experts said."
Villagrossa's China trip is an affront to ALL Americans and I will unequivocably state that it is UN-AMERICAN AND ANTI-AMERICAN!
China is an enemy of the US!!! And why in the hell is this Mexican midget going over there trying to curry favor?????
Hugo Chavez is also currying favor with China!!! So is Fox!!!! So is Iran!!!!! What the hell is going on?????
What more is it going to take to throw this Mechista piece of shit out of office????
In a 1997 interview with The Times, Leung said her ties to the Chinese government dated back to this time. "I have a lot of friends in China in the ministry of foreign affairs," she said then. "I pride myself as somebody who is respected and trusted."
In the early 1970s, according to Leung, she assisted people working at China's U.N. Mission in New York then newly opened and continued the relationship over the years.
"I helped them," she said. "China remembers old friends. All these people I entertained became big shots."
Walter, you idiot, get your facts straight: the LAEDC is a FOR PROFIT company. Their name, by design, is intended to fool simple minds like yours and the Clowncilmembers into thinking that their purpose is altruistic. In reality, they are hired guns for many developers and industry big wigs including Wal-Mart! Duh…..!
yawn
Is the mexican midget passing out absentee ballots in China?
But we should not only be picking on the Mexican politicians. For Horatio Vignali was also able to bribe two corrupt, immoral, evil and traitorous white politicians named Bill and Hillary Clinton.
Horatio Vignali gave $200,000 to Hugh Rodham, Hillary Clinton's brother, to convince Bill and Hillary to release his monstrous son Carlos Vignali.
"Mecha, Mecha men" - Villaraigosa (second from r.) with fellow left-wing California Hispanic politician Cruz Bustamante (r.), a notorious apologist for Mecha/Atzlan, a Jew-hating, anti-American gang of Mexican Nazis found on college campuses throughout California and elsewhere, and who want the conquest of "Atzlan" (the southwestern U.S.) by the Hispanic "raza" (race)
On Clinton's last day in office, he signed the pardon releasing Carlos Vignali from prison.
Hugh Rodham indulged his taste for fancy cuisine and expensive cigars by working with his treasonous brother-in-law Bill Clinton to win pardons for drug dealers, Puerto Rican terrorists, spies for Red China, and all sorts of other criminal, anti-American trash
These trips ALWAYS seem to be a problem.
HARBOR OFFICIALS ADMIT UPGRADES.(News)
| From: Daily News (Los Angeles, CA) | Date: March 11, 1998 | More results for: EVA
Byline: Patrick McGreevy Daily News Staff Writer
Two top Harbor Department officials confirmed Tuesday that they received free upgrades to first class from EVA Airways on a return flight from Taiwan, where city officials approved a multimillion-dollar agreement with the airline's parent company.
Harbor Commission President Leland Wong and Harbor General Manager Larry Keller said through a representative that their seats were upgraded from business class to first class on a flight from Taipei to Los Angeles on Saturday.
Last year, where did Villaraigosa's son go?
Hunan China
The Chinese Communist Party
Hunan's provincial capital is Changsa. Changsa is also the birthplace of communism. Qingshui Tang (clearwater pool) is Chairman Mao's former residence and the site of the first local Communist Party offices.
You stupid fools! Villaraigos is in China to line up his future campaign donors.
All of this paid by tax payer dollars. Talk about campaign reform. Loopholes everywhere.
MEMO TO THE "LA ANTONIA TIMES"
"HIS POLLONESS" DOES ASIA EDITION
"HIS POLLONESS" junket,errr, business developement trip to the Far East got off to a "BANG", thanks to North Korea's Dear Leader. Scribe DUKE HELFAND must of stuff some Kool-Aid packs from "JOURNALIST BAQUET" desk, judging from the PUFF piece in today's fish wrap. Scribe Helfand has a Blog on the Asian Trip. Scribe Helfand even gets photo credit for picture of "HIS POLLONESS" on the GREAT WALL.("HIS POLLONESS put his wall climbing experience to work, learned at Roosevelt.). Note to Scribe Helfand, since this is a "BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT TRIP" what are all the Union hacks doing on this trip? In closing, safe journey to our objective scribe as "HIS POLLONESS" ASIAN TOUR CONTINUES.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Everything is a classroom now, Wacko . . . And when your only tool is a hammer, all you see if nails!
Sour-grapes quarterbacking, only no one will hike you the ball.
I saw our LA Leader on the news last night climbing the great wall while wearing a white T shirt, black slacks and black leather shoes. It seems that the Mayor forgot he was in China representing all of Los Angeles not just the Cholos (gangbangers to the non-mexicans). I couldn't tell if he was a veterano from East LA or some guy claiming to be the Mayor.
Come on Tony dress a little better, you are after all out there to attract visitors to LA not to remind them of ugly stereotypes.
I guess you can take the boy out of the barrio, but not the barrio out of the boy.
To 11:00 a.m.:
Read again what I said about the "non-profit," then, if you still don't get it, read my posting re Orlove drinking the Kool-Aid, where I also addressed the "non-profit."
I hereby accept in advance your apology.
Walter,
Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wO28NQc9tW4
Love,
South Korea Team
9:32
Missakian was never a client of Hacopian's, in fact Hacopian ran the campaign of the guy running against Missakian in 2000, Paul Krekorian, who just won the democratic primary for the 43rd AD. get your shit straight.
We have a slightly different take. I believe the trip is very well-timed, and that the people in print are doing a bad job of saying so.
Joseph,
Well timed before elections and lining them pockets for future campaign donations.
Why didn't the mayor take Bitter Bernie, J. Hahn, Padilla?
You got it. It's the Mayor's Team. These greedy mother f'kers have lined up the totem pole.
From the Times:
Do we forget so quickly?
Thomas Saenz, the mayor's chief counsel, said he has not been informed that the mayor's name has come up or will come up in the investigation.
"There is no conceivable circumstance where it would be appropriate for the mayor to be dragged into a suit as a witness," Saenz said.
####
Tomas, Tomas, Tomas. Let me give you some freebies.
Conceivable circumstance = Aldo Palma
Conceivable circumstance = cell phone records
Conceivable circumstance = Marco Palma
Conceivable circumstance = Farmdale Elementary
Get a clue Tomas, all these "ghost workers" and "ghost voters" are labor dumb fucks - and they talk. Give them half a Corona or a joint and they will drop their panties faster than a Ricardo Torres subpoena. You certainly are going to earn your money in this case.
On a side note, wasn't Fred Woocher Xavier Becerra's attorney during that Marina Message scandal? He didn't do Becerra any good.
How about a sample of the exchange between Antonio on the witness stand and Torres?
Torres: "Mr. Villar, I can call you that , right? Mr. Villar, are you familiar with Aldo Palma?"
Tony: "Make no mistake about it, he is my godson."
Torres: "Mr. Villar, did Mr. Palma work on your 2003 City Council campaign?"
Tony: "Make no mistake about it, he is a loyal godson."
Torres: "Mr. Villar, are you aware that Mr. Palma was named on a list provided to SEIU Local 99 by Mr. Ludlow to be hired to work the campaign in District 10?"
Tony: "Make no mistake about it, that was a mistake."
Antonio is going to drag this family through the mud and he won't lose a second of sleep over this tragedy. You can't deny the evidence, Aldo is there in black and white, just like Marco.
From what we've been hearing, Aldo is the link between Antonio's 2003 campaign to Ludlow's 2003 campaign and Local 99. Maybe his parents should have been more cautious. As was said on this blog before, anything Antonio touches turns to shit. I feel for the Palma family, but you reap what you sow. If the shoe were on the other foot, do you think Antonio or Parke would have any mercy? Come to think of if it, not too long ago, the shoe was on the other foot and those allegations were false - but there was no compassion. So cry me a river
MEMO TO THE "LA ANTONIA TIMES"
****"BREAKING NEWS"****
While the "OLD GREY HAG ON SPRING STREET" is fixated on SEX nationally, SEX locally. NORTH KOREA goes nuclear. Leave it to the North Korean "DEAR LEADER" to upstage his Los Angeles counterpart "DEAR LEADER POLLORAIGOSA" One would love to be a microphone in "HIS POLLONESS" hotel room. Imagen the dialog;
"HIS POLLONESS": Maria, how dare the North Koreans upstage me on my Asian tour!!! Do they understand who I am ?.
"MARIA": POLLO dear, our conrades are only protecting themself from that inperialist pig Bush.
"HIS POLLONESS": maybe we can add them to the POLLO ASIAN TOUR. we can offer them landing rights at Van Nuys Airport.
"MARIA": our fellow worker paradise will open you with open arms.
LA TIMES, DAILY NEWS DO NOT REPORT ON THE FOLLOWING. WHY?
Mike Hernandez was the coke head. Police raided his office and found coke residue all over the place along with the largest porn video collection they had ever seen. After he got busted - supposedly his wife turned him in - his staff was treated to counseling, at city expense, where they were informed that the huge porn collection was because cocaine makes you horny.
And he still served out his term. Guess who his chief of staff was - Ed Reyes. The other pussy working on his staff was Ed's chief of staff, Jose.
Antonio worked for Mike's campaign when he first ran and was - and probably still is - one of his snorting buddies, along with Gloria Molina's husband Ron. Latinos had two cokeheads representing them during this period, the other being Richard Alatorre whose sister currently works for Antonio.
City hall police once found Mike doing that staffer - Helen - on top of his desk because she was "accidentally" pushing the panic button during one of their sessions. Antonio had his fun with this staffer also. Afterall, true marxist share everything/
WACKO, if two major metropolitan newspapers are calling a source an "expert" on economics, there must be something to it, don't ya think?
Stop being so bitter for once.
Actually, no.
Expertise is not a matter of two press-release reporters conferring the title.
Rather, expertise is a function of education and experience. Indicia of expertise as an econonomist could also include publications in respected scholarly journals.
Courts have rules of evidence to determine who qualifies as an expert, and who does not. None of them bases it on whether two newspapers have labeled a person as an "expert."
But thanks for playing. You may want to check out a book on logic and rhetoric from your local library.
P.S. Aside from the utter lack of qualifications, and the bias inherent in working for a trade group, another problem with relying on Kyser's opinion is that there is no mention of his methodology.
That's at least two major newspapers and the Associated Press labeling and then relying on this so-called "expert." I would also recommend a book on media literacy.
"Media literacy?" That's the best you've got?!
Puh-lease!
If that is your idea of a rejoinder, young Clowncil Staffer, I weep for the future of this city.
Walter, although I could have been clearer, if you read my comments closely (note the use of the term "so-called" and putting the word "expert" in quotes), I was concurring with you -- taking a swipe at the newspapers, Associated Press and recommending to 10:22 the importance of the critical evaluation of media sources. In other words, just because a few media outlets cite someone as an "expert," this doesn't necessarily make them one.
And, alas, I'm not that young.
Oh. Thank you, and I'm sorry. I probably read too fast -- I've been pressed for time these days -- and I'm so accustomed to lame comments, I missed your sarcasm. Good one. Your wit, was, in this case, pearls before swine....
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