Another Day, Another Death. But Only Platitudes From Nithya Raman

By Daniel Guss

@TheGussReport - Chaos and death keep showing-up in Sherman Oaks, almost as frequently as the sunrise, while LA City Councilmember Nithya Raman keeps dodging this column's direct questions about a recent spike in deaths of homeless people and violent attacks by some of them upon the rest of her local constituency.

Now, yet another homeless person has died...

...while another yielding a knife was arrested after making death threats and climbing the roof of a local gas station, causing a major response from the LAPD and LAFD.

Because it's just about housing...right?

Raman's media flack has complained that instead of answering our direct questions, The Guss Report and Mayor Sam should quietly accept their prepared, gratuitous statement that speciously sidesteps accountability like so many Brooklyn trolley dodgers back in the day.

That approach may work in mainstream media circles, but not here, because we won't waste your time regurgitating press releases in lieu of direct questions and answers.

For the full story, jump on over to my Substack, sign up for the free newsletter and don't forget to follow me on The Twitters @TheGussReport.

What happened this morning?

Earlier today, Azteca America reporter Alicia Unger was shoved against a cargo container by one of the Mayor's bodyguards after breaking through a police cordon. Watch this video clip for full context and vote on the appropriate headline below.

¿Univision de su lado?

If your surname is Villaraigosa, the answer to that question appears to be a resounding “si.” Just as dramatically as the rise of citizen journalism has altered the way we obtain news and information, the rise of Los Angeles’ politically advantageous language barrier has enabled City leaders to sculpt and hone their messages.

Once upon a time, one speech would be delivered, and subsequently translated by Spanish-language media word-for-word. With Mayor Villaraigosa, came a major paradigm shift. Now, as any bilingual Angeleno will tell you, uniquely crafted messages are delivered to each of two Los Angeleses.

Today, we learn, sometimes it doesn't end there. Eric Longabardi of ERSNews reports that if some English-speaking media outlets have been lobbing two years worth of softballs, one weekly Univision program has engaged the Mayor in a game of T-Ball with an oversized bat.

Unbelievable stuff here, including emails from Univision to Villaraigosa Deputy Press Secretary Diana Rubio containing questions the mayor would be asked, days in advance of his televised Q&A appearances on KMEX/Univision 34 that were billed as “impromptu” exchanges.

* Update
Longabardi appeared on John Ziegler's radio program to discuss the story he broke. He refused to go along with Ziegler's assertion that a culture of faux journalism exists within Spanish-language media.

According to Eric, the email messages were leaked to him by journalists at Univision who were concerned about how the decisions of a few people in management were affecting the integrity of their profession.

I think it was extremely important for him come out and set the record straight and I thank him for doing so. One of the side effects of our language barrier is that people in English-speaking Los Angeles (admittedly, myself included) are susceptible to developing preconceived notions of the Spanish-language media. I learned a lot today.

Open Thread for Sunday: Antonio and Paris are Victims?

Are Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and "socialite" Paris Hilton "victims" of the media or willing volunteers? The Attack Machine blog notes a Daily News headline, “The curse of celebrity. Antonio, Paris pay price for our obsession with fame.”

Attack Machine tells us something I think all of us (except the Villaraigosaistas) already know: Antonio is a publicity whore, plain and simple.

Blog away dum dums.