NEWS

Power Protected Power In USC Scandal

A new book by L.A. Times reporter Paul Pringle covers the scandal involving former USC medical school dean Carmen Puliafito, who partied in a Pasadena hotel room with a young drug addict who overdosed on crystal meth and GHB.

The book, “Bad City: Peril and Power in the City of Angels,” also covers another interesting angle: How the Times covered up the story and prevented Pringle from writing it for months.

In an article today on the book, the Times says, “a clandestine team of reporters had to hide their early efforts to cover the university from the paper’s top management.”

The book “contends that the actions (Times editors) took to stymie the USC investigation went against the most basic tenets of journalism and tarnished the news organization’s credibility at a time of rampant distrust of the media.”

It’s not shocking that the Times’ editors and USC administration had a cozy relationship. For years, USC has leaked big stories to the Times, especially on big donations. It would also give preference to the Times for some sports stories.

An example: When Pete Carroll interviewed for the Miami Dolphins job in 2007, he gave a strange press conference where he wasn’t clear about his intentions to stay at USC.

So that night, USC sports information director Tim Tessalone told Carroll to call a Times columnist and offer a second set of quotes on whether Carroll was staying. The move infuriated the rest of the media because they weren’t given the same access to Carroll.

Max Nikias wielded a lot of power during his tenure so it’s no surprise he had some influence with the Times.

But this book is compelling as it details that the Times editors initially killed the Puliafito story. The Times eventually fired six employees.

Advertisement

61 thoughts on “Power Protected Power In USC Scandal”

  1. A former athletic director at USC’s sexuality has been covered up for decades by the media, but he’s giving himself away by hanging out with gay guys in the Palm Desert area. 🥰. The demise of the football program started because of him.

    Like

    Reply

      1. “I’m not sure you can get aids by burning down your house —but I get your point…”
        –Senator Bulworth to bigot in “Bulworth”

        Like

    1. Julian Assange couldn’t have said it better, Ed….
      #Actually….
      #..HavingBeenStarvedFor3Years,HeCouldn’tHaveSaidItAsWell…

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    2. Because they convinced the American public that Joe was both mentally and physically fit for office, Ed?

      Or because they helped to cover up the family’s international corruption that we see influencing his decision making in both Europe and China?

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      2. Mr. Durham, can you please update us on Hunter and Joe Biden’s international corruption related to Europe and China?

        Durham; Well, after three-plus years, all I have is a box of crickets. I’m still in the gutter looking high and low! Please let slo cal know

        #SENILE!

        Like

      3. Gabby —
        Durham is a joke. His team is a bigger joke.
        #TheyHaveNoIdeaHowToConnectTheMany,ManyDots
        #[MaybeThey’reNotEvenSupposedTo]….

        Liked by 2 people

      4. GABBY
        WELCOME BACK
        I WAS WORRIED ABOUT YOU
        SO CAL WAS
        UH CONCERNED SOMEWHAT
        I THINK
        DEEP DOWN
        IN HIS HEART OF HEARTS ☺️☺️😊😊😇😇😍🥰😋😚😚😙😙🤪🤪🥸🥸🥸😎😒😒😒😞☹️☹️🙁🙁😫😩🥺🥺😞🤪🤪😚😚😌😊😍😚🤪🥸😎🤓🙁🥸😚😚🥸🥸😞☹️😕😩😩🥺🥸🥸😉😌😍😍😍🥰😋😚😙😜🤪🥸😎😒😞☹️😞😞😞☹️☹️🥺🥺🥺

        Liked by 2 people

      5. I think maybe that’s more conflict than So Cal is experiencing, George…
        #IDon’tThinkHe’sThatTorn

        Like

      1. …and the fish asks the feather, “do you know who this bar belongs to?” Feather says “an Asshole, JustOwns”

        Like

    2. Gabby: Durham was not charged with investigating the Biden crime family. He was asked to investigate the origins of the Russian collusion hoax. Predictably, it all originated with Hillary. Her attorney, Sussman, contacted the FBI and falsely claimed that there were text and cell phone connections between Trump and a Russian bank. Sussman also falsely stated that he was not working on behalf on a client. Another lie. Billing statements from Sussman’s law firm show that he billed Hillary for the communications with the FBI.

      With respect to the Bidens, Senators Johnson and Grassley have obtained financial records on Hunter Biden that show that he received in excess of 5.4 million from China alone and that is just the tip of the iceberg. Others have estimated that the Biden family has received 30 million. Now Joe has called off investigations into the origins of the Wuhan virus, and the investigation into Chinese spying at US universities, and Chinese intellectual property theft, and is considering withdrawing the Trump tariffs on China. He also emptied out our oil reserves and sent some of it to China. Coincidence? Maybe that 30 million investment is paying off big time for China. Not exactly “crickets.”

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

      1. It takes some pretty dumb prosecutors to mess up cases against Sussman…. Hunter….Hillary….Joe….
        #OrMaybeTheyJustAren’tTryingVeryHard….

        Liked by 1 person

      2. You know it. I know it. 90% of the people on this thread know it.

        But the simpletons who thought it would be a good idea to have a President with dementia and something even worse, waiting to take his place? Not so much.

        Liked by 1 person

      3. For what it’s worth, I think Gabby is smart….and I think all the smart people who voted for Biden for mysterious, unconscious, unknowable reasons are now embarrassed as hell at how Biden makes them look every hour of every day…
        #I’llBeHappyWhenGabbyCanReferToJoeAsTheBigJoke…
        #..It’llBeCleansing

        Like

      4. You’re hilarious, MG.

        Someone who tries to claim we’re better off now than we would have been if Trump were still in office is not smart. The people in Afghanistan, Ukraine, Sweden, Finland and Taiwan would agree with me.

        Liked by 2 people

      5. Clinically it’s called “denial” —and there’s nothing hilarious about it. I’ve seen lawyers totally screw up cases….and say “I’d try it the same way if I had it to do over again.” All who voted for Biden made a mistake of enormous proportions — ENORMOUS — so they keep telling themselves [and each other] that they’re positive they picked the right guy…. and would do it all over again…
        #BelieveMe:TheyKNOWOtherwise..
        #BidenWillGoDownInHistoryAsOurOwn”MadKingGeorge”…
        #[WhoHopefullyWillRepeatHistoryAndRideAHorseOverACliff]

        Like

      6. Hey Mr. Horse! …Since you’re a stable genius- How can you convince an 8-year-old he lost the election?

        The soon-to-be-indicted clown was recently in Las Vegas stumping for Lombardo. He was out peddling the same old dog and pony show regarding election fraud, just going on and on and on, to the point, where Lombardo had to cut him off….Embarrassing!…. People in the crowd started booing trump…Poetic justice!

        PS.. your rant reads like an audition for Infowars…SAD!

        Like

      7. You do realize that none of what you’ve written constitutes a rebuttal to the fact Biden is a walking, talking disaster who has completely lost the confidence of his own party, right?
        #AllTheWordsInTheWorldCan’tChangeThatFact

        Like

      1. I hear you —but — every time I see Durham …or his “Team” I think the same thought: When did lack of charisma become a hiring qualification?

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Wait wait wait!!!!! When you don’t get the outcome you want, just blame it on a tainted jury…. dude, you’re toooooo much!

        Like

      3. Gabby,
        Any D. C. jury is gonna be tough on prosecutors going after a dem. It’s a matter of local pride. But…the right prosecutors could get a conviction. The Durham team waddles around like little ducks ….the jury doesn’t even begin to identify with them or their cause.

        Liked by 1 person

      4. Can the prosecution ask for a change of venue due to a potential jury pool that might have political bias? But, this really comes down to Durham and his incompetent minions.

        Liked by 1 person

      5. You can always ASK….the motion just won’t be granted.
        But —you’re right — this one is on Durham. The whole U. S. Attorneys Office —going all the way back to the Meese Dynasty —is famous for not knowing how to win a jury trial. The introduce 300 exhibits and wonder why the jury gets lost.
        #TheCan’tControlTheirInvestigators…
        #&TheyCan’tPutAFuckingCeilingOnTheirExhibitList

        Liked by 1 person

      6. Speaking of Meese- The guy is 90 and still kicking(maybe not really kicking, but breathing)…. Reagan loved that guy

        Like

      7. btw, “They” works better than “the”….it makes the sentence work more like an actual sentence…

        Like

      8. You have pondered the possibility that there wasn’t actually a crime committed? The dude had like 3 years and the best thing he could gin up was maybe a guy didn’t properly identify him self even though there was no requirement to do so during an interview he initiated w/ the FBI.

        At some point I do hope you all come to terms with the fact you’ve been conned. I’m honestly sad for you.

        Like

  6. Ryno, McCullough, and Plaschke didn’t say shit about Helton for 3 years until Bohn gave them the go-ahead and then they attacked like a pack of hyenas. Everyone knows Bohn gives Ryno preferential treatment in exchange for favorable coverage.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  7. I don’t remember Pat Haden getting criticism from The Times despite his string of bad coaching hires. Hell Haden was too incompetent to perform a national coaching search. He was too thin-skinned about possibly being told “no” by coaches.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  9. I suspect half of all adult Americans by now have developed some sort of drinking or substance problem. If you’re a public figure, being an alcoholic isn’t newsworthy unless it prevents you from doing your job. Obvious in Sark’s case, but not so obvious with others.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    2. About 3 years after we bombed Tehran and killed Saddam I read somewhere [actually, I think it was the N. Y. Times] that the 4 major ethnic groups were free to unleash unremitting terror against each other 24/7 ….and…. as a result of not being able to go shopping, attend a funeral or a wedding without fear of being killed by an exploding bomb —supposedly over half of the citizens living in the vicinity of the Green Zone had developed some kind of alcohol or chemical dependency.
      #NotSurprisinglyMostFolksRequireLaw&OrderToThrive

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

      1. Speaking of needing law and order, and I am as libertine as they come, but the L.A. freeways need some CHP supervision.

        The recklessness is through the roof and I estimate that about 5% of drivers are doing 90+ when the freeway is free. I haven’t seen a cop out there in months. Maybe they’re afraid of the speeders.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. As a 92 year old man said to me in on the street in Oakland, “I never thought we’d go backwards –I thought our city would just keep getting better.”
        #TheOldConceptOfAmerica:TomorrowWillBeBetterThanToday

        Liked by 1 person

      4. Baghdad — what would I do without you? [And, while we’re at it it the Times article was more like eight years after “shock& awe”, not 3]…
        #LikeMerlinIWasRememberingTheFuture

        Like

      5. So funny to see Dementia Joe go beg MBS for more oil production, after he claimed we were going to treat them like a pariah.

        As many old men with dementia, he talks real tough, but doesn’t come close to walking the walk.

        Like

      6. Listen up, you senile limp-dick troll! When Biden fails the country as a whole suffers. So, why in the fuck would you take pleasure in Biden failing. Your posture is highly unpatriotic!

        Also, where have I ever posted that Biden was doing a “good job”. Stop putting words in my mouth. My dollar is being stretched just like yours…(you comprehend, doubt it)

        Speaking of Dementia, please, look in the mirror. The eat, sleep, shit, and Biden routine 24/7 are actions/signs of a mental disorder!

        #NeedsAGoodAssWhipping

        Like

  11. Layer John,

    I drive the freeways to and from work. I take 6 freeways to get there. I don’t mind fast driving around 75-80 mph. Cars are built better and can handle that speed. It is the stinking drivers that do not know how to drive or the motorcyclists that cut in out of the lanes that cause problems. I see slow drivers in the Number 1 lane. There should be a law that is enforced, that if you are in the Number 1 lane and you are doing 65 or below, you will get a ticket. 70% of the people should not have drivers license due to incompetency. if they need one, then restrict them to city streets only and no freeway access. I drive the 210, 134, 2, 5, 110, and 105 freeway everyday, both ways. I go through downtown LA everyday. People just suck at driving.

    Just Owns, I am sorry I should have written this part at the begining because you don’t work and it is a waste of your time to read this.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. PT, as someone who’s on 2 wheels most of the time I can’t argue that many of my fellow riders zip around too fast. But they are putting themselves in danger more than anyone else.

      I see far more cars looking at their phones while driving, crossing over solid lines (a white solid line is no different than a solid double yellow) and at least HALF of all drivers not signaling lane changes or signaling AFTER they’ve already begun a lane change or turn.

      Also…20-30 years ago if you missed a turn, you proceeded through the intersection and flipped a u-turn as soon as it was safe & legal. Nowadays, people stop in their lane, make the people behind them wait until it is safe for them to move over 2 lanes or more and make their turn. “It’s all about ME and where I need to go” is the mentality of most drivers on the road now.

      Like

      Reply

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.