"City Hall Irked as Corruption-Fighter Wins Journalism Awards" by Daniel Guss
Roger that, at the source-burying El Segundo Times, as well.
@TheGussReport - Some folks within the corridors of LA City Hall are apparently irked after this column landed multiple wins at last weekend’s Southern California Journalism Awards for Online Journalist of the Year and for Best Activism Journalism.
It speaks volumes about our politicians’ greater comfort level with City Hall corruption than with those exposing it. That goes double for my own Councilmember, Nithya Raman.
For context, this is the same crew who, on June 16th, celebrated “Global Garbage Man Day” to, as one politician said, “uplift” them.
I agree that garbage men are critical, but in the parlance of the politicians, I demand equity! We both deal in the same things; garbage, waste, rot and stench.
And for cryin’ out loud, Garbage Man is sexist. It should be Waste Removal Birthing Person of Unknown Gender Orientation.
Enough About What I Think
Let’s tweak the irked.
Here is what the judges said:
Paul Krekorian Stands By His Wrong Statement
I recently pointed out the untruthful statement that LA City Council president Paul Krekorian made during last week’s hearing on whether to suspend Councilmember Curren Price while he fights his corruption indictment.
In comparing the Price indictment to other Councilmembers’ criminal charges, Krekorian incorrectly said that former Councilmember Richard Alarcon had been “acquitted of all charges.”
That is patently untrue. He was convicted, served his ironic sentence of house arrest (for not living in the district he represented), but it was overturned due to faulty jury instructions. After refiling the charges, the District Attorney’s office declined to prosecute them because no additional sentence could be imposed on Alarcon if he was convicted again.
So I reached out to Krekorian, his chief of staff Karo Torossian and media relations person Hugh Esten.
Since they have refused to respond, here is what I twice asked them.
What to make of Krekorian standing by his demonstrably false statement?
Krekorian believes his misinformation?
Krekorian is comfortable with the public being misinformed?
Krekorian is too embarrassed to admit he was wrong?
The LA Times is comfortable with the misinformation, too?
Don’t wait for the Los Angeles Times to ensure that the public hears the truth on it because both it and Krekorian are already knee-deep in trying to mitigate the public perception of the charges against Price.
Need a little proof on how the Times shaves layers off of the truth?
Read on.
LA Times: Bury the Lede…..or the Source
In its June 13, 2023 column about the Price indictment, the LA Times says, “Concerns about Price voting on contracts involving companies that had done business with Richardson Price‘s firm were previously raised in 2019 when The Times reported that he voted on decisions involving at least 10 companies in the same years they were listed as providing at least $10,000 in income to Del Richardson & Associates.”
Actually, Price’s conflicts of interest were first raised by this column 791 days earlier.
In my February 27, 2017, column, I wrote, “When the locals confronted Richardson (who is listed as ‘Del Richardson Price’ on the Councilmember’s Wikipedia page and elsewhere) about that relationship, and whether she was offering fair market money to vacate their units, she begrudgingly admitted that she is married to Price but claimed that she had no conflict of interest.”
The link in the Times’ quote, above, takes you to its piece from April 28, 2019.
Within that story, it says, “The councilman has also faced questions about whether he had finalized a divorce with his previous wife before remarrying.”
That link takes you to the Times’ story from March 3, 2017.
There, the Times writes, “Questions about Price’s divorce — first reported by the news site CityWatch…”
Click that link and it only brings you to the CityWatchLA home page.
Neither to the article nor the person who broke the story.
By design.
Odd.
Unless you know the LA Times’ professional insecurities and pettiness.
Then it makes sense.
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(Daniel Guss, MBA, is a multi-award-winning journalist. In June ‘23, he won the LA Press Club’s Online Journalist of the Year and Best Activism Journalism awards. He is City Editor for the Mayor Sam network, and has been a featured contributor for CityWatchLA, KFI AM-640, iHeartMedia, 790-KABC, Cumulus Media, KCRW 89.9 FM, KRLA 870 AM, Huffington Post, Los Angeles Daily News, Los Angeles Magazine, Movieline Magazine, Emmy Magazine, Los Angeles Business Journal, Pasadena Star-News, Los Angeles Downtown News and the Los Angeles Times in its sports, opinion, entertainment and Sunday Magazine sections among other publishers.)