Monday, January 23, 2006
 but the biggest thing that happened in downtown LA this weekend took place a few blocks north of staples center, when the LA Times received word that yes Matt Welch would accept the offer and be their new assistant editor of their Opinion section.
yes, this is bigger news than Kobe.
almost.
this is isla vista in the house.
this is long beach in the house.
this is los feliz in the house.
matt welch isnt any ivy league fancyboy with lasik and his third beamer. hes a ucsb dropout, one of the original warbloggers, a prague xpat who covered the first nader campaign and is leaving a successful stint at the libertarian news journal Reason.
and todays proof that you do not need a college degree to be successful.
along with many ucsb daily nexus staffers of the late 80s early 90s matt started the first english daily newspaper in prauge, Prognosis, and at night drank beer and played guitar in several bands.
as Editor in Cheif he met with various members of government and once Prognosis had finished he easilly moved over to the Buddapest Business Journal with Ken Layne (now with Sploid) and Henry Copeland
before he left europe to return to america he found himself the hottest french girl he could find and
he asked her if she knew any hotter french girls that he might have overlooked somehow and she said no
 but then after a few bottles of becherovka the truth came out and she said one name
emmanuelle.
he found her; promised her a life of angel games, neighbors whose pit bulls would bark throughout the night, and garden parties frequented by the likes of ... bloggers.
she said oui and now you have someone at the la times who's literally in bed with the french.
the nexus has breached the gates.
first with the daily news and now with the times.
and in pure isla vista style, welch did not kiss the host's ass on his way in.
in late november he criticized the Times' (lack of) coverage of the LAUSD trying to bulldoze 50 homes near downtown, and they printed it and paid him
in early novemeber he ridiculed the relationship between the Dodgers and LAT sports columnists Bill Plaschke and T.J. Simers.
"As every long-suffering sports fan in this town knows all too well, 'the Los Angeles media' is unfortunately synonymous with the Sports section of the paper you are holding. Especially its two loud-mouthed, value-subtracting columnists, Plaschke and T.J. Simers."
and not only did they print that puppy too but they hired his ass to revitalize the section that they have struggled with for quite a long time now.
correct me if im wrong, but this could well be the highest ascension that a blogger has lept to from the blogosphere to the 4th estate. yes, there have been old media types who have taken to blogging, but to have a real warblogger make the jump from blogger.com to la times opinion page in less than five years is outstanding, and totally deserving of being compared to kobe's feat last night.
looks like ive gotta get a subscription to the times now.
matt's past columns + matt's announcement + matt was tsar's original bassplayer
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