Surprise: LAT axes guest editor idea *

Yeah, the Times really got its money's worth out of that innovation. "We have concluded we will not be moving forward with the program," the paper's official statement says. Gee, I wonder why? People can call off the Rumsfeld alert now. Full text at Editor & Publisher or Deadline Hollywood Daily.

* In Tuesday's Times: Publisher David Hiller says the guest editor idea had become "a distraction." He named reader's representative Jamie Gold to look into whether "personal or professional connections improperly influenced previous content in the editorial pages" under Andrés Martinez. The list of now-moot guest editor invitees included not just friend-of-Hiller Donald Rumsfeld but Melinda Gates, another inside choice for Martinez. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has been a Friend-of-Opinion since the brief tenure of Michael Kinsley, whose wife, Patty Stonesifer, was president and co-chair. The Times editorial page also took up one of the foundation's big causes, malaria in Africa. Magic Johnson was another figure invited to guest-edit the Current section. Also in the Times: A letter from Martinez.

Recently:
Current is dead anyway
Grazergate email (and Kinsley)
Editor's Dozen