Any serious reader of the Los Angeles Times would have to conclude that while it is not what it once was, that is before Sam Zell got his money-grubbing hands on it, the current editors and reporters have done a commendable job in producing a pretty damned good newspaper. Competitively, the Times has held its own and in many cases has been even better than some of the newspapers with which it has been compared.

I know and understand the complaints of many of the Times' former employees who were excellent journalists and are justifiably bitter over the treatment they were given after being shown the door. I am less enamored of many of the Times' critics who claim to have read the newspaper on a regular basis or insist they cancelled their subscriptions long ago. I don't take their assertions very seriously. I say this as an admirer of the pre-Zell Times, but also as a daily reader of today's paper who also devours the New York Times and Wall Street Journal first every morning.

But having tipped my hat to Russ Stanton and his staff, let me express unmitigated outrage to the tasteless advertising executives whose judgment embarrasses the newspaper. The ads they place in the sports section regularly promote cures for "premature ejaculation." The ads feature an overjoyed woman, virtually at the moment of climax, uttering phrases of sexual excitement. They would make Larry Flynt blush. Most assuredly, they belong in the porno magazines on many of the newsstands that pollute our city. Don't get me wrong. I'm no prude. At my advancing age, I know all about the problems men and women may encounter when they're ready to hop in the sack. But are the enticing advertisements that appear frequently on pages 2 and 7 of the Times' Sports section the kind that parents want their children or adolescent readers to be exposed to before puberty or learning about the birds and the bees? I doubt that those advertisements would find their way into any other quality newspaper.

I expressed my views to Stanton more than a month ago and to his credit, he responded by pointing out that advertising decisions were beyond his control. But I would have thought the complaint of a serious journalist with nearly six decades of experience would have been passed on to the responsible higher-ups. So far, I have seen or heard nothing from the executive suite.

Since that has not happened as far as I can tell, let me address my complaint once again, this time publicly and to Eddy Hartenstein, the publisher and chief executive officer of the Times. Would you, dear sir, have had the gall to have placed a commercial of a similar nature on DirecTV which you once owned and operated? Better yet, how do you feel now, presuming you are or were a family man of some vintage with children, grandchildren or even great grandchildren, having them exposed to the Los Angeles Times sports pages containing an ad from the "Ultimate Performance Medical Center?"

I think I know the answer and so do you. The last thing in the world that the Times needs now is embarrassment or comparison to a publication promoting smut. The newspaper cannot possibly be that hard up for money.

Murray Fromson, a former CBS News and Associated Press correspondent, is emeritus professor of journalism at USC Annenberg.