Good Journalism, Bad Judgment

This comes via those fine folks at LA Observed. It's Cal State Fullerton journalism professor and former Orange County Register reporter Jeff Brody beginning by lauding the Los Angeles Times' investigative series last week about judges being bought and paid for in Las Vegas–and then damning the Times for venturing out of state for this likely editorial award winner when the paper could have rooted out similar corruption in its coverage area (Southern California).

As another for instance, Brody points to a previous Times investigation on Muslims in Nevada–while the staff apparently took a pass on Muslims in Orange County. Adam Gadahn, who converted to Islam at the Islamic Center of Orange County, showed up last year in an FBI confiscated video where, with his face covered, he said, “we love nothing better than the heat of battle, the echo of explosions, and slitting the throats of infidels.”

Bringing it all back to the beginning, Brody might also have mentioned that the Times could have hung out in Orange County courtrooms to find corruption and paid-for justice. Their buds at the Weekly will even draw 'em a map. Then again, considering how the Times gets trounced in Orange County by the Register, perhaps brancing out to the Nevada desert is a new circulation-building strategy.

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