‘Los Angeles’ Times Misses the Forest Fire Scandal for the Trees

Most good news editors, whether they admit it or not, believe themselves Michelangelo’s heirs — men and women who chisel off the unnecessary bits of a reporter’s copy in order to reveal the angel within. Sadly, the Los Angeles Times often seems bereft of these judicious hacks.

Take, for instance, a story this past week that seems to promise an examination of the causes of January’s catastrophic wildfires in the west Los Angeles community of Pacific Palisades. Beneath the headline, “‘A personal embarrassment’: Why fire agencies keep failing to put out blazes that later turn disastrous,” the Times offers at least three possible explanations for the rapid spread of the fires. But the real story — the angel, that is — is a story about something else entirely. It’s the story of a political cover-up. And while that story is in there, too, it remains trapped to this day in more than 1,500 words.

About the Author

Will Swaim

Will Swaim is the CEO of the California Policy Center and, with David L. Bahnsen, a co-host of National Review’s Radio Free California podcast.

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Most good news editors, whether they admit it or not, believe themselves Michelangelo’s heirs — men and women who chisel off the unnecessary bits of a reporter’s copy in order to reveal the angel within. Sadly, the Los Angeles Times often seems bereft of these judicious hacks.

Take, for instance, a story this past week that seems to promise an examination of the causes of January’s catastrophic wildfires in the west Los Angeles community of Pacific Palisades. Beneath the headline, “‘A personal embarrassment’: Why fire agencies keep failing to put out blazes that later turn disastrous,” the Times offers at least three possible explanations for the rapid spread of the fires. But the real story — the angel, that is — is a story about something else entirely. It’s the story of a political cover-up. And while that story is in there, too, it remains trapped to this day in more than 1,500 words.