Times, With Undistinguished Editorial Pages, Fails To Win Any Pulitzers

For the first time since 1997, the L.A. Times failed to win any Pulitzer Prizes this week.

Is this the real end of the John Carroll era or simply a hiatus of sorts, related in part to Hurricane Katrina?

I think it partly reflects the undistinguished editoral page, under the inept direction it now demonstrates day by day. The editorial on China this morning represents an affliction of blandness which presently marks the editorial page.

One bright light in the Pulitzer situation is the prize won by Nicholas Kristol of the NYT, who roams the world finding human rights abuses, particularly among hypocritical Arab regimes like that of the Sudan.

Commentary is in many respects at the heart of what the press has to offer. Kristol represents the best of that.

L.A. Times has good commentary in Lopez, Martinez, Rutten and Hiltzik among others, but it's not on the editorial page.

Andres Martinez wins a special award for editorial irrelelevance at the LAT by never writing anything worthwhile. The Pulitzer board, it is clear, has been watching.