Goodbye to Rosa Brooks

Re “Journalism: Bail it out or write it off,” Opinion, April 9

I was overcome with tears of joy after reading the first sentence of Rosa Brooks’ article last week: “This will be my last column for the L.A. Times.” After suffering through her sanctimonious rants for years -- in particular her inability to write a single column without bashing former President George W. Bush -- I felt a great weight rise from my shoulders.

But then I read her second sentence: “After four years, I’ll soon be starting a stint at the Pentagon as an advisor to the undersecretary of Defense for policy.”

The Times will be better; the Pentagon will be worse. I guess we can’t have it all.

James B. Davis

Beverly Hills

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In her last Times column, Brooks advocates a government bailout of newspapers -- a splendid idea if you want to see the evisceration of the 1st Amendment.

Current bailouts of banks and car companies have led to government-imposed limits on salaries and bonuses and government involvement in deciding what models will be in dealer showrooms. Appeasing political constituencies -- purely political motivation -- drives the Obama administration’s bailout policies. What’s to think anything would be different for a bailed-out newspaper’s principal products -- news and editorial opinion?

I can see it now: Subtle pressure to favor ACORN, or to portray the National Rifle Assn. negatively.

There’s no shortage of working journalists or opinion-makers. These days, they’re published electronically rather than on paper. Propping up a dying business model via tax dollars isn’t the answer. It is, however, an invitation for the state to control journalism.

Scott St. Clair

Olympia, Wash.

The writer is a journalist working with the Evergreen Freedom Foundation, a nonprofit policy institute advancing limited government.

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What a shame that Brooks’ thoughtful and challenging columns will no longer be available in The Times. Today’s column about the future of journalism shows why more and more people are unhappy with what has happened to our once-outstanding newspaper.

When I was a student some 50 years ago, I had a wonderful professor who told us that there should be required journalism courses for publishers. This is even truer today -- courses in the ethics of journalism also should be required for newspaper owners.

Jean F. Cohen

Los Angeles