04.20.06
Pellicano and the Los Angeles Times II (continued)
Just sent off the following letter to David Garcia, the media co-ordinator of the Los Angeles Times, asking him for a bit more elucidation about his newspaper’s involvement with Anthony Pellicano. I will be posting his reply. He is currently out of the office till April 24, 2006.
Dear Mr Garcia,
I noticed yesterday that you made a statement to Nikki Finke regarding your newspaper’s past involvement with Anthony Pellicano. I was hoping that you might be able to clarify your statement further along the following lines of inquiry:
1. Did the LAT ever use Pellicano’s services without financial reimbursement but in a fashion that might be considered as mutually beneficial for both parties?
2. Did LAT reporters, either staff or freelance, ever use tips from Mr. Pellicano verbatim as an anonymous source without corroborating the information?
3. Did the LAT ever give preferential treatment to stories about Pellicano’s clients, many of whom have helped provide substantial advertising revenue for your paper in the past?
4. With what frequency was Mr. Pellicano in the LAT’s offices and were person’s related to the LAT in Mr. Pellicano’s offices? What was the frequency of phone contact with Mr. Pellicano and by whom?
5. Did your staff or freelance employees ever receive monetary gifts or favors from Mr. Pellicano?
6. Were any of your staff or freelance employees also on Mr. Pellicano’s payroll?
7. One of your staff reporters, Chuck Philips, as recently as last year, boasted to other journalists that he had a very “special” relationship with Mr. Pellicano. Could you please have Mr. Philips define what he meant by very “special”.
8. Can you explain what has come to be regarded by many as your newspaper’s positive bias towards Pellicano and his clients in your articles, both in the past and recently?Thank you very much for your time. I look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
Nomi Fredrick M.D.
http://anthonypellicanoweblinks.com
http://anthonypellicanoweblinks.com/blog
For anyone interested in sending Mr. Garcia an email, please write to him at david.garcia@latimes.com.
