Beutner gets an invitation to Columbia

Austin Beutner, the fired publisher of the Los Angeles Times, has not spoken publicly at any length since his Facebook post on the day he was asked to leave. Well now he's going to, and not in Los Angeles. A week from today, he will be at Columbia University to speak on "the future of journalism." Should be a pretty hot ticket in New York media circles — a moment certain to be well covered. I wonder if any Los Angeles-based media will bother covering.

The invitation, which Beutner posted to his Facebook page, is from Columbia Journalism School dean Steven Coll. There's an interesting aside there. Back in July, Coll was spotted in the Los Angeles Times newsroom, having meetings and being introduced around by editor Davan Maharaj. It sparked a flurry of hopeful rumors that Coll, a former Washington Post managing editor and New Yorker staff writer — and also an alumnus of Occidental College and California Magazine — might be part of the LAT's future. But any chatter frittered away when Austin Beutner was fired Sept. 8.

Here's the invite.