Does Anyone At The Los Angeles Times Read The Headlines Before They Print Them? Obviously - NO!

According to both the print and the on-line edition of the Sunday Los Angeles Times,the present California congressional delegation is dominated by white, male... Republicans. The minor problem is that the present California delegation is dominated by... Democrats.

But that is not what the headline of the article says. The article, of course, correctly contradicts the headline and states that the existing Republican leadership in the house is being replaced by new Democratic leadership, hence the demographic and partisan shift.

Unfortunately, this type of error is an almost daily occurrence in the Times. People who write the headlines - evidently - never read - or at least understand - the articles they are putting headlines... on.

And this is why I made the suggestion some time ago that assuming that the Times does not trust writers to write their own headlines, to at least REQUIRE that the writers sign-off on the headlines.


New Congress mirrors shift in California
A delegation largely white, male and Republican yields to a diverse array of Democrats.
By Noam N. Levey
Times Staff Writer

December 24, 2006

WASHINGTON — When control of Congress switches parties next month, so too will the political face of California.

Slipping into eclipse is red California, dominated by Republican House members who for years have been the state's most influential voices in Washington.

These lawmakers — all white and all Christian — hailed largely from inland valleys. Many were deeply rooted Californians who grew up immediately after World War II when the state was a more homogeneous place. Several strolled the halls of Congress in cowboy boots.

With Democrats ascendant, however, a bluer California is set to put its mark on Capitol Hill. This face is more urban and more diverse. Its senior lawmakers — who include women, Jews, African Americans and Latinos — live in large coastal metropolitan areas. Many moved to the Golden State as adults.

The contrast broadly mirrors national differences between the two major political parties. But the shift in power within the state's congressional delegation also reflects a changing California that is cleaving along an East-West divide.

One California, concentrated along the Pacific Coast, is increasingly secular, multicultural and Democratic; the other, centered east of the coastal mountain ranges, is more overtly religious, more white and more Republican.