Capitol Weekly: “More bad news from the world of the Capitol press corps. Dan Morain, one of the deans of state political coverage, is leaving the LA Times. Morain’s departure is not just the type of loss that we have grown to expect among our ranks. Morain consistently dug into corners of state government where nobody else was looking. Morain could always be relied on to dig through public documents, and emerge with stories that no other reporter was writing — and that was back when we had a fully operational press corps. Morain’s departure comes amid increased layoffs in the media world at large. More cuts are expected to be announced soon at the Times and the Sacramento Bee.”
Another huge blow for the L.A. Times. After losing Bob Salladay and Henry Weinstein. It is very sad to see what is happening to my hometown paper. True, there are still excellent reporters covering the courts (David Savage, Maura Dolan, and now Carol Williams) and covering state politics. But not enough of them left at the Times. When you talk to someone like Bob, Henry, or Dan, you get a level of sophistication and understanding that is rare these days among reporters. I also know how uncomfortable Dan made me feel when he’d call me regarding initiatives on which I was working as a paid consultant. He asked the hard questions and went right to the nub of the matter. Exactly what a great reporter should do.