April 21, 2006
Michael Hiltzik
The Los Angeles Times has taken down the blog of a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist who posed as an Internet reader to defend his own column and attack his conservative foes.
This article calls this "the latest salvo in the David vs. Goliath battle between bloggers and the "mainstream media" they accuse of arrogance and bias under the guise of objectivity."
"Hiltzik admitted Thursday that he posted items on the paper's Web site, and on other Web sites, under names other than his own," the Times said in a statement.
"That is a violation of The Times ethics guidelines, which requires editors and reporters to identify themselves in dealing with the public."
Evidently one of Hiltzik's blog competitors exposed these multiple identities through matches between Internet addresses and a couple of "identies" created by Hiltzik.
The Pulitzer that Hiltzik received, along with Chuck Philips, was based upon a series that unveiled widespread corruption in the music industry.
Times spokeswoman Amy Moynihan said the paper was still investigating the matter and may take further action.
There is one thing I think of when the article mentions a David vs. Goliath battle between bloggers. My thought is that it won't be too long before David is Goliath. Just my thought! What's yours?
