Dante Atkins, WeHo City Council Campaign Manager, Spotted Texting Answers to Candidate Lindsey Horvath During Debate

No, sorry Pat. You screwed up and are trying to cover. Nice try though.

No one looking at that cover can seriously opine that you used "martinet" on purpose. Martinet means a stickler for the rules, usually used in a military sense (it comes from the name of some long ago French army officer). Surely a martinet can be a tyrant, and a tyrant can be a martinet, but not necessarily.

But be honest, if you wanted to say martinet -- meaning, incorrectly, tyrant -- you would have portrayed Heilman and Land as tyrants. Not goofy looking puppets with their strings being cut by some guy with a Pompadour (another dead 18th Century French person word!). You would not have portrayed them as marionettes if you meant to call them tyrants.

The Weekly has devolved to the Humpty Dumpty standard: "When I use a word it means just what I choose it to mean － neither more nor less."

Nope, this cover goes on my wall. It's a classic!

EXACTLY! They should! And one of the most major tools for self-education is the press because it is supposed to be a reliable source of vetted information.

Once again, proving my earlier point about the Weekly, its 'writers' and 'reader'ship. Now, go scrawl something on whatever wall you tore yourself away from - call a 12 year old 'fatty' and sign it with someone else's name. 'Respectfully,' of course.

Oops, strange comment system. Anyway, the state of the LA Weekly reporting has seriously gone down hill. Reporting, without any sort of confirmation, what one (obviously biased)member of community emails you?

So, I might as well go to any random blog at this point, as there doesn't seem to be much difference in the quality of reporting.

Hi Patrick,

I must disagree with you. Generally speaking I am a fan of your writing and have followed your stories (and the stories of other writers at LA Weekly) for the past several years. That being said I have found this particular article and your cover story to be extremely skewed and ,to me, obviously filled with personal intention other than to inform readers of the truth.

Now, I don't want to put out a blanket statement like that without giving concrete examples. So here are some:

Your cover story paints Mito Aviles as a forward thinking young man who pays attention to global politics and social issues, recognizing the connection between other nations and our local issues. This is true. I have spoken with Mito about his campaign and he appears to be a very bright young man with lots of great ideas. That being said -- with one simple google search I found that John Heilman not only pays attention to global politics, but has on more than one occasion participated in events to counter or shed light on the formation of anti-LGBT legislation in Africa. If it is worth mentioning that the thought process of Aviles expands beyond local politics is it not also worth mentioning that not only the thought process, but the actions of Heilman expand beyond local politics and into the global spectrum?

Another example: You introduce Horvath in your article as follows: "Horvath, a pixielike 20-something woman with short, blond hair, is oddly programmed." This description shocked me not only because it was extremely subjective and not very journalistic, but because it flies in the face of my experiences with Councilwoman Horvath -- a woman who has always offered her opinions and thoughts on the City of West Hollywood to me very candidly. If she ever seems rehearsed it's probably because she has put a great deal of thought into her approach on bettering the city. Before ever meeting Ms. Horvath formally I recall observing here at an LGBTQ Teach In at Plummer Park. She spent the entire day there to soak up as much information as possible about the LGBTQ residents of West Hollywood. I attended a workshop with her featuring Sheila Kuehl and current Speaker John Perez. I recall her asking several questions pertaining to how to become a more effective local leader (as she had just been appointed to City Council). It was that open-minded attitude and eagerness to better herself and her city that is a true evaluation of the kind of leader that Councilwoman Horvath is. Now granted that this is my personal experience with Ms. Horvath I do know that is similar to the personal experiences of almost every person I know who has come into contact with Ms. Horvath. This makes me wonder if you and the other reporters involved even bothered to ask questions of her colleagues. The way I frequently hear Ms. Horvath described is as a "whirlwind of fresh new ideas and energy." Really, I've witnessed multiple people describe her that way on many occasions.

My third example of why LA Weekly's coverage of the elections has been unfair and unbalanced is the section of your cover story regarding the Erotic Fair Weekend. First you point out a fact-- that the West Hollywood Arts and Cultural Affairs Commission voted to not endorse the event. But, then you somehow shift the blame of that over onto the incumbents, somehow painting them as anti-gay. It goes to show how good of a writer you are since you were able to point out another fact -- that the City Council rejected the advice of the Arts & Cultural Affairs Commission -- and somehow use that fact to make it look like Council didn't support the Erotic Fair Weekend. Your exact words were "Under pressure from the leather community, the West Hollywood City Council relents: The erotic art enjoyed by the leather crowd will be shown." Really? Did they relent? Because from my point of view all of Council was eager to make sure the Erotic Fair Weekend proceeded in full form. It is this kind of play with semantics and infusion of subjective perspective in these articles that is disappointing.

I truly do hope that you reconsider your defense of your cover story and Simone Wilson's story here. As a proud resident of West Hollywood I expect fair and balanced information from the press when it comes to the shaping and the future of my city. I also expect the press, when covering an election, not to publish several pages analyzing the personal attributes of candidates not in relation to the election, but to actually discuss the candidates in relation to the issues that affect us residents of the city.

Really, thank you for reading this. I hope to see more of the great writing that I have seen from you and LA Weekly in the past.

Hi Patrick Range McDonald,

Two things I would take issue with in your reply:

1. I wouldn't call the LA Weekly generally guilty of a vigorous search for the truth. Sometimes, the Weekly does expose kernels of journalism, that the public may not be aware of, that they deserve to know. Case in point; David Zanhiser (I believe was the author) exposing the truth about Miguel Contrares' death at a brothel in South LA. I think (perhaps incorrectly) all would agree, an incredible expose, exposing a public figure, who espoused certain virtues in public, and, quite obviously, others in private. Other times, the Weekly (and media 'outlets' in general) engages in what I would accuse the LA Times of, social journalism. Clumsily charging forward, often with copious amounts of negative overtone, to pursue an agenda, you, alone, deem worthy. This, as I return to the point in my first post, is not journalism, but is often clouded with personal agendas and negative attacks, usually not corroborated by actual, factual details. Stick to the former, spare us the latter.

2. Please don't assume you know my position. I am certainly not defending the status quo. I am, however, as I continue to repeat myself, defending what used to be a moral code in journalism - integrity. Quoting Joey Spanollie is supposed to do what, exactly, for the reader? Other than his name, I am not informed as to Mr. Spanollie's employment, credibility, political experience level, hometown, criminal background or favorite type of girl scout cookies. I understand that your industry runs on deadlines and word count, but if I were to base my slanderous point on, "one West Hollywood Community Member" "Joey Spanollie" my superiors would tell me, thank you for your gossip report, now can you please give us something credible. Your readers deserve better.

If the LA Weekly has something to report on the debate in West Hollywood, why doesn't it inform its readers of the actual issues that were discussed, positions of the candidates, and reaction of the audience. As I have continued to follow this election cycle in your publication (btw: you're welcome, for reading :) ) your colleagues have continually failed to focus on these core issues. Rather, they have taken an angle, followed it, and deteriorated the discussion to what Joey Spanollie tells us is important.

Do you really think, in the age of technology, that a campaign manager/friend/aide/stranger/brother/sister/uncle texting 'answers' to a candidate that she may, or may not have relied on, newsworthy?

Unfortunately, Mr. McDonald, I do not think it's newsworthy but I do believe it is a reflection of the state of journalism in today's society. Maybe, it's a reflection of what we feel we are willing to accept in our journalists. I hope that is not the case. And that's why I replied - because I expect more from journalism.

Jay10101LA Resident