Why the L.A. Times Needs a Political Cartoonist

Big local story: The L.A. Archdiocese agrees to $660 million settlement to victims of pedophile priests.

But with no local cartoonist of its own, Thursday's Los Angeles Times ran a 'toon from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on the matter -- including the image of Cardinal Mahoney in a TV set.

Yep, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has a cartoonist tackling a big Los Angeles story. And the LAT doesn't.

By the way, while researching this post, I came across this 1973 Los Angeles Times editorial in which the paper explains why it would no longer endorse political candidates, among other changes:

As The Times has evolved and changed, so have its editorial pages. Once we were highly partisan; now we call ourselves politically independent.

Our outlook on public affairs is skeptical but progressive. We are convinced by experience that progress in the social order has been achieved and will continue. We prefer trial and error to dogmatism, pragmatism and ideology.

Our profoundest allegiance is to the spirit of free inquiry. Our deepest optimism and strongest hopes spring from our fundamental belief in the spirit of liberty and its secure future in the American democracy.

These are general propositions. They are not easily translated into a particular position on any matter of current public affairs. So we try, in these editorials, to examine a question from all sides, to outline it as best we can in a brief space, and then to present our own conclusions. If thereby we persuade others to our view, so much the better. We hope at least to stimulate the thoughts of others.

We have decided therefore that The Times shall no longer routinely endorse candidates for president, for governor, or for senator. We have decided also to move our editorial cartoonist, Paul Conrad, to the page opposite this page. Consequently we shall increase the space given to Letters to The Times.

The piece goes on to rave about then-L.A. Times cartoonist Paul Conrad. Again, reminding me that the paper sorely misses the likes of Conrad (OK, Michael Ramirez, not so much).