"Lazy Journalism is the Lifeblood of LA's Demise" by Daniel Guss
From Confirmation Bias to Pack Journalism, much of LA's downfall can be traced to the rote news media continually failing in its primary purpose.
The new book from CNN anchor Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson, titled “Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again,” is a lesson in self-delusion, in which journalists and DC insiders dubiously claim that they were fed a steady diet of lies about former president Joe Biden’s steep mental and physical decline by those surrounding him throughout his presidency, and especially in its second half.
Bull.
They had one job to do and continually failed.
Blame it on two similar concepts, “confirmation bias” and “pack journalism,” both of which apply to virtually every scandal and failure that has rocked Los Angeles, Southern California and the entire state for generations.
But then there’s pure lazy journalism.
Roughly 24 hours ago, I was preparing one of several delayed stories that I have had in queue, were it not for the incessant chaos seeping from Los Angeles City Hall.
The day went in an entirely different direction when I got an early morning invitation to do a segment on “The John Kobylt Show” on KFI-AM 640 on the story of Billy and Tina, the last two remaining elephants at the LA Zoo, disappearing under cover of night to the sub-optimal Tulsa Zoo rather than to a sanctuary that would have been immensely better for them.
As I prepared a quick column about the radio segment, I received a press release from Judie Mancuso, a widely recognized transparent and effective voice for logical humane policies via her organization Social Compassion in Legislation (SCiL).
It contained alarming allegations about the underhanded transfer of Billy and Tina, which may explain why a ne’er-do-well deputy mayor of Karen Bass’s named Jackie Hamilton reportedly hung-up on TMZ when they called to find out what happened to the long-suffering pachyderms, who have been politically exploited by Los Angeles politicians and the news media for their entire lives.
What can be gleaned from Mancuso’s detailed press release is that Dawn Petersen-Amend, interim president of the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association (GLAZA), alleges extensive financial misconduct by Denise Verret, who is Bass’s LA Zoo Director.
The low-hanging fruit of these allegations include Verret diverting donated funds that were intended for the welfare of the Zoo’s animals for things like $22,000 for a private party in her honor; $27,500 for office upgrades; and $365,000 for her and her staff’s world travel, a familiar corrupt practice I have exposed in City Hall.
These alone should trigger an audit and a pink-slip for any misuses of donated funds.
But the core accusations from Petersen-Amend are much darker, including that:
Verret diverted $1.7 million in donor money to outside organizations that are separate and distinct from the LA Zoo, which is in need of significant improvements, including $449,500 to AZA, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (NOTE: and other recipients) which should have immediately set-off alarms in Bass’s office and local news media.
Why?
Because Denise Verret leads both organizations!
The Los Angeles news media should have boldly questioned whether the quiet, improper transfer of massive amounts of donated funds from one organization (LA Zoo) to another (AZA) was a quid pro quo for the recommendation of the Tulsa Zoo by the recipient of those funds (AZA) to the giver (LA Zoo).
Hello?
Anyone home?
Verret reportedly lied to LA City Council in recent budget hearings by failing to include in its budget request the millions of dollars in donated funds intended for the benefit of the Zoo, but that she spent celebrating herself and diverting elsewhere.
Where are you, City Controller Kenneth Mejia???
Verret reportedly asked GLAZA to raise funds specifically for the elephants’ welfare shortly before transferring them to Tulsa, at a cost of $44,000 when Last Chance for Animals (LCA) had offered to transfer Billy and Tina to a vastly better sanctuary environment…for free.
And so on, and so forth.
Instead, LA’s lazy news media, including the Los Angeles Times, ABC-7, NBC News, KNX and the Associated Press parroted talking points from Bass’s office, including her demonstrably false claim that, in moving Billy and Tina to the Tulsa Zoo, they could “remain together,” except that Billy, who is intact, has never lived “together” with Tina; they were in separate, adjacent enclosures, causing horrendous social deprivation that has harmed Billy in particular, and other pachyderms who died prematurely at the LA Zoo.
In other words, lazy journalism continues to victimize everyone who consumes it around here, but especially Billy and Tina.
And now for weather and traffic at the top and bottom of the hour…
The best remedy might be a grand jury, and an unwinding of the Tulsa transfer.
Decide for yourselves and check-out these links:
Judie Mancuso’s entire press release.
My double-segment yesterday on “The John Kobylt Show” on KFI-AM 640, starting at the 21:30 point.
(Daniel Guss, MBA, won the LA Press Club’s “Online Journalist of the Year” and “Best Activism Journalism” awards in June ‘23. In June ‘24, he won its “Best Commentary, Non-Political” award. He has contributed to the Daily Mail, 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.)