I was having this very debate with a couple reporters at a Christmas party the other day. Who produces better journalism?: A reporter that is close to the people she covers–has relationships and knows the landscape and has institutional knowledge OR a reporter that is green, has no ties to the community and just purely reports the news?
As someone who values relationships, not because it allows manipulation (after all the green reporter is just as likely to get played) but because it breeds civility and more importantly accuracy I prefer the former.
Jean Pasco of the LA Times is one of the old school reporters who has been around since I got involved more than a dozen years ago. And she knows everyone and remembers everything. There are disadvantages to this but I still would prefer Jean cover a story that involved me or a friend rather than some easy to manipulate but ignorant runt of a reporter.
In true Probolsky style Pasco gives a cool run down of Orange County races in 06 in today’s LA Times. Only a seasoned reporter with a keen understanding of how politics and government works could write an article like hers.
It is interesting that the only races she leaves out, I covered in my post yesterday (the other non-competitive county offices).