Simi Valley Sophist Out of the Closet

The Simi Valley Sophist is out of the closet. No, it is not what you are thinking. I am talking about transparency in the blogosphere. Hugh Hewitt discussed the importance of transparency in his interview with Tim Rutten of the LA Times. Read the transcript at Radio Blogger.

I believe Hewitt correctly deduced that the LA Times is losing circulation because of the readers’ loss of confidence. Rutten tried to claim that it was managerial issues tied to shifting demographics. I don’t think so. Opinion must be confined to the editorial page and not allowed to creep into the “news.” Patterico often skewers the paper for various transgressions, and I did so here & here.

Here’s an observation; If you’re unaccustomed to public speaking, don’t get into a debate on the air with a talk radio host. The latter will probably beat your pants off, as was the case in the Rutten/Hewitt exchange. What was supposed to be a newspaper piece interview by Rutten about declining talk radio ratings ended up a rout as Hewitt turned the tables and interviewed Rutten on declining La Times circulation. To his credit, Hewitt did so in his usual gentlemanly manner. Rutten was clearly out-of-his-league in the radio medium. The posting of the transcript on Radio Blogger compounded Rutten’s poorly delivered message Right there in front of God and everyone was every hesitation, stumble and incomplete thought. Those are things that we writers avoid by rewrite, rewrite, rewrite.

Rutten attempted to derail Hewitt’s allegations that the LA Times was in a “death spiral” by pointing out that the LA Times is still operating at a profit. Hewitt’s point is that the paper is losing market share to the new media, and thus circulation is declining and profitability threatened.

Hewitt’s thesis about the declining LA Times circulation revolves around the concept of “transparency.” Hewitt posits that the public now requires reporters and commentators to disclose their personal political positions in order to forewarn the public of potential bias. Rutten disagrees and maintains that news organizations have “conventions” that can be followed to ensure fairness, accuracy and context without revealing personal positions. I concur with Hewitt.

Rutten’s subsequent article revealed that he does not have a clear concept when he asserted that talk radio is a “…wholly owned subsidiary of the Republican Party...” Clearly, Rutten has not engaged his critical listening skills with regard to talk radio.

Transparency is important for credibility. Therefore, I am coming out of the closet and revealing that I am a Republican and that I have been in law enforcement for 26 years. The last 16 years as a criminal intelligence detective. You have no idea how hard that is after keeping much of my career under wraps for many years. But, retirement is approaching and credibility is important. I want my work to be viewed as credible, and so I must offer my bona fides and reveal my potential bias.

Update: This blog is submitted to the Hugh Hewitt blog of the week contest. You can review all of the contestant blogs here. Voting will begin at Radio Blogger on Friday at noon PDT

Correction: Voting begins sometime after the blog submission deadline Thurs midnight PDT.

Update 9/2: The Blog of the Week contest did not happen this week despite a number of submissions. Never heard anything from Radio Blogger or Hugh Hewitt, it just did not happen. HH cancelled the contest for the next week. Hugh requests Vox Bloguli on the comments of Ill. Rep. Jackson on the Bush response to Katrina.