Who The Hell Is Miriam Pawel And Why Should We Care That Dean Baquet And The LA Times Are Trying To Get Rid Of Her?

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-ufw8jan08,0,6620187.story?coll=la-home-headlines

When I read the first part of Pawel's expose of corruption at the United Farm Workers's Union, I could not understand why her name would be so unfamiliar to me. But then came Kevin's post at LA OBSERVED, and it turns out she has been hidden away as an editor during her brief tenure out here - after she came from... New York City... and from... New York's Newsday.

http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2006/01/ufw_saw_times_series_comi.html

She had been the assistant managing editor in charge of Metro until June 2004, then became a roving projects reporter. She filed some pieces on farmworkers that year, but had no projects in the paper (or any page one bylines) in 2005, according to the LATimes.com archives. Word around the newsroom is that Pawel, hired by previous editor John Carroll, was encouraged to look for another job after Dean Baquet became editor last summer.

But hopefully, after this series, the Times will instead add her to their increasingly first rate team of investigative reporters. I mean - if this keeps up - My God! - the Times might (almost) become an interesting paper to read!

And hopefully, Pawel will keep connecting the dots in Sacramento and show to us all how the CCHE and so many other state agencies give away tens of millions of dollars in grants on the basis of political connections and no meaningful review of the merits of the projects.