Mel Melcon
NEW YORK The Los Angeles Times, tainted not so long ago by the StaplesCenter fiasco, has good reason to celebrate. On Monday, the TribuneCo.-owned paper swept the Pulitzers winning five awards for breaking news,national reporting, criticism, editorial writing and feature photography.Only The New York Times has won more prizes in one year -- seven, for itsSept. 11 coverage. This year, the Gray Lady only took home one Pulitzer, andonly one other paper, The Wall Street Journal, was honored with more thanone prize.
With these wins, perhaps the paper can now completely shake off anylingering residue from the scandals that beset it in the late '90s.
"I had no hope of winning five Pulitzers," said L.A. Times Editor JohnCarroll. "I have to say there was a bit of luck involved. It's a fickleprocess. Sometimes you get breaks and sometimes you don't. We must havereceived a lot of breaks to get five -- not that I'm not proud of the work."
For now, it's safe to say, that after years of low morale, the staff at theL.A. Times has turned the corner and the paper is well on its way tobecoming more of a national player. "We would like to be a distinctivenational voice from the West," Carroll said. "I think we are that but Iwould like [the paper] to be a greater part of the national part of theconversation."
Carroll acknowledges that he has inherited a strong staff and that he alsodid a lot of recruiting for high-level editorships. That said, he claims tolook for staffers all over the country, not just at The New York Times,which has lost several journalists to its competitor on the West Coast. "Idon't like to hire from The New York Times because they tend to be difficultto get and expensive," Carroll said. "We've hired a few from there but notnearly as much as we have lost to them in the '90s. Of course, they hirefrom us -- it's a dog-eat-dog world."
Almost all of the winners who spoke with E&P credit Carroll and ManagingEditor Dean Baquet for reinvigorating the newspaper. "[The win] is really atestimony to John Carroll and Dean Baquet and the ambition of the paper,"said Nancy Cleeland, a labor reporter who won the Pulitzer for nationalreporting along with Abigail Goldman, Evelyn Iritani and Tyler Marshall, fortheir series on Wal-Mart. "It's a story that couldn't have been doneanywhere else or very few places."
Cleeland, who has been with the paper for seven years, remembers when thestaff was completely demoralized during the Mark Willis era. "There was alot of hope and optimism with Dean and John who are pushing investigativeprojects," she said.
Goldman, who has been with the paper for 10 years, says she's unsure if thepaper would have green-lighted their Wal-Mart pitch, which came out of beatreporting, at another time and under different editors. "They are pushing usto think big and take risks and to go for things [that] in the past, I'm notsure we would have pursued," she said. "To pitch a project like this andhave the editors be excited about it and then devote the time and resourcesto it is clearly a reflection on our leadership."
Goldman said the article took about 10 to 11 months to complete, includinginterruptions from the war and the recall election. In addition, the papersent the reporters to Honduras and Bangladesh.
Sam Enriquez, city editor who oversaw the coverage of the California brushfires which won a Pulitzer for breaking news, said there is a renewed focuson beat reporting which helps in mobilizing the newsroom, especially duringa crisis.
Dan Neil, who won the prize for criticism for auto reviews, says he came tothe paper seven months ago specifically with the goal of winning a Pulitzer."The L.A. Times has done some incredible work this year. Overall, people arevery gratified that they're work has been so well received."
(Los Angeles Times)
