PM: Blogger Mickey Kaus has been a harsh critic of the Los Angeles Times for what he terms its “historic faux-East-Coast confusion of stiff journalism with serious journalism.” Do you think his criticisms carry any weight?

JC: I take it as unintended tribute to the Los Angeles Times that Mickey devotes so much time to it. When Otis Chandler rebuilt the Los Angeles Times, starting in 1960, he and his editors undoubtedly used East Coast papers, particularly the New York Times, as models. That served the paper well; its journalistic growth was spectacular. I feel, however, that we still need work on our own, unique voice — a voice of California. That voice is developing, but my successor will have to keep at it. As to “stiff” journalism, I wish Mickey knew the efforts we’ve taken to encourage clear, imaginative writing and to discourage the bureaucratic style. Obviously that, too, still needs some work.

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