Baquet's Banquet
When I first began News Gems 15 months ago, I expected to find great stories on a daily basis in The New York Times. The same with the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal. But the most pleasant surprise has been how consistently stories in the Los Angeles Times have delighted me. When I scan its Web site each morning, there's usually at least one story that grabs my attention because of its in-depth reporting and compelling writing. I unfortunately can't say the same about most big metropolitan papers.
So I was sad to read today that Times Editor Dean Baquet just got booted because he refused to cut more staff. As a final salute to Baquet's reign of excellence, I offer these gems that I've collected from the Times in recent months but hadn't highlighted until now:
In "A Silence in the Afghan Mountains," Kevin Sack and Craig Pyes investigate whether a Green Beret team nominated for medals of valor actually covered up the torture and killing of detainees under its custody. The reporting done by Sack and Pyes along with their partners at the Crimes of War Project has prompted the Army to launch criminal inquiries into the deaths.
Turning from war to love, Sack traces in "Launching a Journey They'd Never Imagined" how an extended family pitched in to help a devoted couple become parents. This is a masterful narrative about love and loss and the ties that bind.
In another powerful narrative, Erika Hayasaki describes in "The Daughter" how a 16-year-old girl managed to forgive a father who tried to kill her.
Finally, for a story in this Tuesday's paper, Borzou Daragahi ventures into dangerous territory to show how lawless and fearful some parts of Iraq have become. His "The Day the Hatred Boiled Over in Balad" details how nobody in one Iraqi city -- not U.S. troops, not Iraqi security forces, not the people of Balad itself -- stepped forward to stop a murderous rampage.
With Baquet now gone, does anyone out there want to nominate an editor who's his equal in excellence?