LA Times editors meet with union officials

Officials from the United Farm Workers, the subject of a critical four-part series in the Los Angeles Times last month, met with editors from the paper, including Editor Dean Baquet, recently, according to the Web site Truthdig. The series has been criticized by others, including in an op-ed piece in the Times last month.

Baquet started off the meeting by saying that he stood by the series, which didn’t go over well. The meeting was described as being “politely contentious.”

Truthdig’s Blair Golson wrote: “Nevertheless, UFW officials tried to take the Times staffers and executives through ‘what we thought were the deep journalistic flaws in the pieces,’ according to [IFH representative] Rivers, ‘and also a number of cases where charges were leveled or stories told about farm workers–and they were not asked to give their side of the story.’

“Rivers said they even referred Baquet to section of the L.A. Times’ own ethics policy specifying that subjects of stories should be given every opportunity to defend themselves against allegations or criticisms.”

To read the entire story about the meeting, as well as the union’s 101-page document refuting the series, go here.