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On the night the Dodgers sale was announced, I noted how it was unfortunate that the LA Times website was a little behind the news after baseball writer Bill Shaikin had been ahead of the curve on the whole McCourt story for so long. (When Bill finally tweeted tongue-in-cheekily "So, anything happen while I was in flight?," you could almost sense his media colleagues around the country groaning in sympathy.) This afternoon, Times editor Davan Maharaj adds a little context in a "Dear Comrades" memo applauding his paper's overall package on the Dodgers sale.
A final word about Bill Shaikin, who’s been fighting the flu. He got up off his sick bed to fly to New York to report on the deal and was his usual authoritative self. It was a performance that called to mind a gimpy Kirk Gibson getting up off the bench to strike a winning blow, with two crucial differences: 1) Bill is much better-looking than Gibson, and 2) he has been hitting home runs on his beat for two years running.
Whole memo is below.
From: Maharaj, Davan
Sent: Thursday, March 29, 2012 12:17 PM
To: yyeditall
Subject: Sale of The Dodgers
Comrades:
Our coverage of the Dodgers sale over the last 36 hours has been exemplary – online and in print. Take a moment to be proud.
From the moment news of the sale broke Tuesday night, latimes.com became the essential source for this story with timely, informative, provocative coverage. Our Home Page team showcased the latest stories throughout the day.
Our best-known voices stepped up to the plate to frame the moment for readers – T.J. Simers and Plaschke, but also Michael Hiltzik and Steve Lopez, both of whom weighed in yesterday morning with web-only instant columns. Steve, in fact, wrote two online commentaries over the course of the day. I’m especially proud to see our big names enriching the website by writing in real time – responding with immediacy without sacrificing quality. These are skills and reflexes we all need to develop.
Take a moment to peruse this morning’s newspaper, which provided a rich, varied tapestry of news and commentary on a historic moment for the city. Bill Shaikin, who has lapped the field with his coverage of the Dodgers drama over the last two years, delivered again, explaining the deal with detail and authority, with a big assist from David Wharton and Diane Pucin.
The metro staff weighed in with a pitch-perfect rendering of the ebullient public reaction to the change in ownership. The ingredients were incisive street reporting by Hector Becerra, Paloma Esquivel and Sports’ Kevin Baxter; elegant writing by that past-master of the lede-all, Mitchell Landsberg; and a Christina House photo of an exuberant fan and his 1-year-old son that beautifully distilled the public mood.
In Sports, we gave readers all they could ask for: inspired commentary by Bill Plaschke and Helene Elliott, a revealing Shaikin Q&A with the new owners, valuable sidebars by Roger Vincent, Scott Reckard, Joe Flint and Steve Zeitchik on business aspects of the deal, including a look at the new principal owner and an appraisal of Magic Johnson’s career as an entrepreneur. And more.
The design team conjured an arresting presentation on deadline, anchored by an ingenious illustration of Magic in Dodger blue.
Paul Ybarrando put the icing on the cake with a keeper of a main A1 headline: “A new brand of moneyball.”
A final word about Bill Shaikin, who’s been fighting the flu. He got up off his sick bed to fly to New York to report on the deal and was his usual authoritative self. It was a performance that called to mind a gimpy Kirk Gibson getting up off the bench to strike a winning blow, with two crucial differences: 1) Bill is much better-looking than Gibson, and 2) he has been hitting home runs on his beat for two years running.
It’s impossible to single out everyone but thanks to all who participated in this superb journalism. Readers were well served.
--Davan
It's the first big memo of Maharaj's tenure. Looks like he's of the cheerleader school of editor missives.
