Here Lies the Gamut of Diversity

Unless you live in Southern California, or subscribe to The Nation, you probably haven't heard too much about the controversy over the L.A. Times dropping grizzled lefty Bob Scheer. Basically, the old Ramparts editor says he was forced out by the publisher, possibly because of his anti-war views, possibly because he's been a long-time target of the Right; the Times denies this, points to its broadened new columnist stable (including lefty Erin Aubry Kaplan, and righty Jonah Goldberg) … meanwhile, readers call to cancel their subscriptions, get offered incredible discounts to stay, and the paper gets on with the business of downsizing.

That's just the boilerplate prelude. The main event is this remarkable protest letter, from Rep. Dennis Kucinich and 24 of his fellow Congresssmurfs:

We, as Members of Congress, object to the dismissal of Robert Scheer, a 32-year veteran of the LA Times with a long history of excellence in reporting and op ed pieces.

Jeff Jarvis rightly objects: "Next time, folks, write as readers."

An even funnier letter to the editor came from ol' Barbra Streisand. Excerpt:

The greater Southern California community is one that not only proudly embraces its diversity, but demands it. Your decision to fire Robert Scheer is a great disservice to the spirit of our community. […]

[A]lthough the number of contributors to your Op-Ed pages may have increased, in firing Scheer and hiring columnists such as Jonah Goldberg, the gamut of voices has undeniably been diluted. […]

My greatest fear is that the underlying reason for Scheer's termination is part of a larger trend toward the corporatization of our media, a trend that we, as American citizens, must fervently battle for the sake of our swiftly diminishing free press.

I know that he who lives in mixed metaphors should not throw Strunk & White, but is it really possible to dilute a gamut?

For the record, I think firing Scheer was a mistake, on grounds of his representative and iconic status among Santa Monica liberals; I should also mention that he once invested a small amount money in a newspaper I co-founded, and also brought me on to write for the Online Journalism Review back when times was rough. But don't cry for Bob (not that I would expect you to)—the San Francisco Chronicle and a local L.A. alt-weekly gobbled up his column, as did the Huffington Post, and tomorrow he launches a new webzine called TruthDig. The gamut of diversity continues to be, um, undiluted.