By: Dave Astor Liberal columnist Robert Scheer, who was dropped last week by the Los Angeles Times, has a new home newspaper -- the San Francisco Chronicle.
In a Wednesday note to readers, Chronicle Editorial Page Editor John Diaz wrote that Scheer "has been a frequent contributor to this page in recent years. Starting today, he will become a weekly fixture. ... Scheer's column will be edited through the Chronicle and we will have a chance to discuss ideas with him -- though he will make the final call on topics for his column, which will continue to be distributed through Creators Syndicate. It will run in the Chronicle each Wednesday."
Scheer's first Chronicle column under the new arrangement ran today. In it, he wrote that President Bush "sounds increasingly Nixonian as he basically calls the majority of the country traitors for noticing he tricked us" about the reasons for the Iraq War.
The Creators columnist will not be a staffer at the Chronicle, just as he was not a staffer at the Times during the latter part of his tenure at that paper.
Meanwhile, the Times' dropping of Scheer continues to stir comment from various sources.
LAObserved.com wondered Wednesday if the move was partly age-related; Scheer is 69 years old.
Catherine Seipp wrote on the conservative NationalReview.com Wednesday that "the loss of Scheer is more than offset by the addition of two new local liberal columnists: Erin Aubry Kaplan, from L.A. Weekly, and freelancer Meghan Daum, who will write about cultural issues. [Conservative editorial cartoonist Michael] Ramirez won't be replaced. So the regular lineup on the Times Op-Ed pages now tilts slightly MORE left than it did before."
But the liberal MediaMatters.org wrote Monday: "Given both the history of conservative attacks on Scheer, and the Los Angeles Times' failure to explain his firing, it seems plausible that the Times bowed to right-wing pressure in firing Scheer."
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here