Longtime L.A. journalist (and former LA Weekly media columnist) Marc Cooper was disappointed last night to find that the Los Angeles Times website's main story was a feature rather than the economic news or the breaking story on the collapse of Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey. He compares it to what other news websites were playing up and concludes, "this is a silly and now all-too typical snafu in news judgment that tells you everything you need to know about the decline of a once-great newspaper." His screen grab:

Cooper emphasizes that he has no problem with the featured story itself by Thomas Curwen: "The writer of this piece is a FABULOUS journalist and an even better editor (he's done great work on several of my pieces for the Times). He's also one of the sweetest of folks I know. And his work deserves great prominence -- always. Make sure you read it."

Speaking of: A former Times staffer emails that for the second time recently, today's New York Times carries a big ad insert for South Coast Plaza that the LAT doesn't have. Ouch, that has to hurt.