Quite a few readers noticed that Chris Erskine's column was missing from last week's Saturday section. Not as many noticed the small note on the last page of the section, which said he had the week off and would return.
His column for the March 31 section has the sad explanation:
Chris Erskine: Goodbye to a mom who was quite right
Times staff writer Alexandra Zavis recently returned from a 10-day trip to Syria. There, she reported on the difficult conditions in the besieged country, in which two Western journalists were killed Feb. 22.
Zavis' articles included reports on the plight of observers in the country, dueling protests by supporters and opponents of Syrian President Bashar Assad, and the economic toll of the country's unrest.
Earlier this week, she answered questions from World Now blogger Emily Alpert about her experiences -- and the perils -- in reporting from Syria.
A sampling:
You knew a lot about Syria before you left. What surprised you once you were there?
One of the things we always wrestle with when covering Syria is trying to reconcile the often wildly divergent accounts we get from the government and opposition activists. So I was looking forward to getting a firsthand look. I quickly learned that even when the bullets are zinging past you, there are times when you still can’t be certain who is doing the shooting and what is the intended target.
...
Did you dress differently to work in a conflict zone?
We brought bulletproof vests and helmets, which we used when we went into parts of the country where there was fighting. And I put on comfortable shoes if I thought I might have to make a run for it. But in Damascus, I dressed the way I would in any other big, cosmopolitan city.
Read the full Q&A on World Now: The perils of reporting from Syria
-- Deirdre Edgar
Photo: Syria's capital, Damascus, on March 1. Credit: Anwar Amro / AFP/Getty Images
Since June 2008, The Times has been reporting on the drug-related violence on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border.
The series is labeled “Mexico Under Siege” and has included more than 300 articles to date. The most recent article, on vigilantes targeting the drug cartels, was published Thursday. But reader John Fries of Long Beach finds the label misleading. He wrote:
Now yet another article under the headline or title ‘Mexico Under Siege.’ As a frequent traveler to Mexico, most recently three weeks driving in Yucatan, I object to the insinuation contained in this title. Yes, there are some parts of Mexico I would not travel to, just as there are some parts of Los Angeles I don’t drive through on surface streets.
To imply that all of Mexico, and all tourists traveling in Mexico, face daily and constant danger is false, misleading and does a disservice both to Mexico and to our fellow citizens possibly interested in visiting our neighbor. It’s no wonder that recently I meet more Europeans than Americans when I travel.
I urge The Times to reconsider the way it presents these articles. I am not asking for self-censorship, but rather honest reporting that does not sensationalize nor over-emphasize the actual risk of violence, especially to tourists, very few of whom are ever impacted. Lose the sensationalistic ‘Mexico Under Siege.’
Geoffrey Mohan, the editor who oversaw the project when it began, responds:
Our philosophy was to begin covering the killings down there as a real war, instead of publishing piecemeal, incremental crime stories. At the time, the statistics we gathered were staggering: several thousand deaths just in the year since President Felipe Calderon “declared war” on drug mafias.
At first, I questioned the central metaphor of a “siege.” I hesitated to isolate just “Mexico” as well. At the time, there were only a few places where a siege mentality prevailed –- governments paralyzed by threats from drug traffickers, police corps corrupted or cowed by the same.
So, we were careful to write stories about the U.S. responsibility, and even wrote out of Canada. We also were cautious in every story to isolate the areas where the violence was occurring, and took quite a few opportunities to write about how normal life was in other areas, Baja and the Yucatan among them.
But I have to say history absolves us, to quote Fidel Castro for a moment. Since the series was launched in June 2008, the violence has spread to areas that never had such a problem, and many more civilians are either being caught up in the violence or living under direct threat or control of traffickers.
All the placid tourist trips into back roads of Yucatan or Baja do little to dispel that truth. Those areas are exceptions solely because they no longer lie in the trade routes (the Caribbean and Pacific routes have shifted). But drug violence is no longer a “fringe” or “border” state problem in Mexico: Interior states that never experienced this level of violence before include much of central Mexico, from Michoacan up through Nuevo Leon. Violence has entrenched itself in Veracruz state, on the east coast. It’s no longer just Sinaloa/Durango/Chihuahua and border states. It’s pandemic.
Photo: Suspects and weapons are displayed by the Mexican navy on June 9. Credit: Jorge Lopez / Reuters
In case you haven't gotten the memo (or tweet, email, message, text, etc.) Thursday is Social Media Day. Social websites Twitter and Facebook haven't been around for even a decade, yet the sites have had a significant effect -- locally and abroad -- on news in the last year.
As journalists, we're always trying to figure out how to better serve our readers with these new tools. The Los Angeles Times is on Twitter, where we serve up daily and breaking news. We also have a main Facebook page where we share stories and welcome readers to join in discussions and polls.
Readers can also choose to follow specific sections and blogs on Facebook or Twitter.
Many of our reporters and columnists are also active on social media sites.
We asked some of them how social media has changed the way they work -- and asked them to answer in 140 characters or less:
This week, readers raised questions about the authenticity of two photos that appeared in the print edition -- both of them from the Reuters news service. In each, the readers thought the image was puzzling and must have been digitally altered.
Steve Stroud, The Times' deputy director of photography, examined both images and shared his findings:
CASE 1:
Question from reader John Powell:
"The guy in the lower left of the image associated with your article does not look right (yellow, grey and black hoodie). Is it possible photographer Shalash (Reuters) got a composite image past the editors? ... Or maybe the guy is a "little person"? Thanks for looking into it. And yes I am aware of the depth perception effect and shutter aperture."
Response from Steve Stroud:
"On close examination using Adobe Photoshop software, the photo by Reuters staff photographer Saad Shalash showing the Baghdad protest appears to be genuine. The 'little person' in the foreground, while he may be shorter than those around him, is also bending down as he prepares to deliver a blow to his opponent. Examining the photo at the pixel level of magnification turns up no evidence that the content of the picture was tampered with."
CASE 2:
Question from reader A.J. Van Herle, M.D.:
On Sunday, June 12, an article appeared regarding Alicia Alonso and the Cuban ballet, which I found very interesting. A photograph entitled 'The staying power of Cuban Ballet' puzzled me, however. Indeed, most of the ballerinas (not all of them) are shown with their legs in an awkward position. Their right legs face the photographer but their left legs are directed away from the photographer. Indeed, their popliteal fossa(e) face the camera, and this is further confirmed by the fact that the heel(s) of their ballet shoes face the camera.This implies that either most of these ballerinas have a complete 'luxation of the hip joint,' or the agency (Reuters) who provided these pictures have a fantastic expert in Photoshop in their service."
Response from Steve Stroud:
"Immediately upon opening the original photo file using Adobe Photoshop software it's evident the picture was greatly enlarged before being transmitted. Enlarging the photo only slightly more causes it to break up at the pixel level, causing aberrations for lack of digital information. It would be akin to putting together a puzzle without having all the pieces -- in this case, pixels.
"Without the missing information, the other pixels can be misleading because they are disconnected. The resulting lack of digital information makes the details look soft, small elements appear incomplete and, in this case, gives the appearance the feet might be facing in impossible directions.
"There's no indication of photo manipulation, rather an overzealous enlargement to achieve a dramatic crop."
-- Deirdre Edgar
In an online chat last week, Times staff writers Jason Felch and Jason Song answered questions and addressed comments from readers about their Grading the Teachers series.
The chat drew more than 450 participants who submitted more than 300 comments. During the hourlong chat, there was time only to post and respond to 32 of them. However, all of the submissions were saved, and many of the comments that were not published in the chat are included in this post. In addition, Felch and Song will be answering some of the remaining questions in a separate post.
These comments have been arranged by topic:
Privacy:
Carol Perry: As a retired LAUSD teacher, I strongly object to publishing teachers' names in the database. When teachers administered the tests, which they were required to do, they were not informed that their names and student scores would be published. The Times is violating their privacy rights. What support is going to be given to these teachers when they start school and students say "You're an ineffective teacher."
John Leonard: I’m glad to learn that J Felch taught for some years. It helps me be open-minded. I actually admire your work; and am only appalled by the decision to rob me of my presumption of confidentiality and privacy in re sensitive personnel matters.
Ms. P: As a 4th grade teacher, I've been in the district over 10 years. I feel there are some very valuable things that could actually come from this data. However, as an educator...I feel rather ambushed by this whole piece. Some comments have lauded teachers for being willing to participate in this expose. I find it shocking that I had NO knowledge of this coverage occurring...nor did I ever give any sort of consent for my name/data to be published.
Westside Teacher: Jason Felch -- Most teachers are on summer break. You are not giving teachers a fair chance to respond. You are literally ambushing our profession, which I know is the whole point of all this. But our careers can be seriously damaged by what you're doing.
Mary Ann Dunigan: I'm wondering how many of these questions and remarks come from a teacher's perspective. Most teachers right now are either in their classrooms teaching or preparing their classrooms for school opening.
Westside Teacher: I know teachers are curious about their scores, but I bet most don't believe the public has the right to see data that might be bogus. Statistics can be interpreted many different ways.
The Times' Lakers beat writer Mike Bresnahan will be chatting with readers at 11 a.m. Thursday about Game 7 of the NBA Finals.
In his last chat, Bresnahan predicted that if the Finals match-up were Lakers-Celtics that the series would go to seven games.
Will the Lakers win another title? Come back to latimes.com/readers to ask him your questions.
Photo: Mike Bresnahan
Company Town reporter Ben Fritz, who previews the new 3-D Tron game and who wrote about the declining tie between games and movies, will be chatting from the E3 convention at 11 a.m. Wednesday.
Fritz and colleague Alex Pham also reported the news from Microsoft's E3 news conference that ESPN3 content would be available over the Xbox 360.
Fritz, Pham and Mark Milian are blogging and tweeting from E3, which began Tuesday in downtown Los Angeles.
Come back to latimes.com/readers to chat with Fritz.
Political reporter Cathleen Decker has been covering California's primary race for governor, including the battle between Republican candidates Meg Whitman and Steve Poizner and the campaign of Democrat Jerry Brown.
She'll be chatting with readers at noon Wednesday about the outcome of Tuesday's election in the state and the prospects for November.
Come back to latimes.com/readers to ask her your questions.
The deadly raid on a flotilla bound for Gaza has drawn strong reactions from world leaders, as well as from Times readers. As of Thursday morning, The Times had received 135 letters to the editor on the subject.
Foreign Editor Bruce Wallace will be discussing coverage from Jerusalem and around the world in a chat with readers at noon Friday.
Come back to latimes.com/readers to ask him your questions.
Times Foreign Editor Bruce Wallace will be chatting with readers at 11 a.m. Friday about the new British government and other news stories from around the world.
Come back to latimes.com/readers with your questions and comments.
Blog editor Tony Pierce oversees The Times' 38 blogs and was part of the team responsible for the creation of the paper's top blog, LA Now.
What makes for a good blog? Are there any new blogs on The Times' horizon? Why does The Times even have blogs?
How did the Times multiply their readership to blogs by six times in just two years?
Where does social media fit in to the blog strategy?
Come back to latimes.com/readers at 11 a.m. Friday to ask him your questions.
Photo: Tony Pierce Credit: Bicyclemark Fonseca Rendeiro
