L.A. Times loses another top reporter to ProPublica

The non-profit investigative reporting outlet ProPublica has grabbed Sebastian Rotella, a 23-year reporter at the Los Angeles Times who most recently was doing national security reporting in the Tribune Washington bureau. Rotella wrote the story this month about U.S. intelligence deciding while Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was in flight to Detroit that he should be questioned upon landing. Before moving last spring to the Washington bureau, Rotella had been the Times' international investigative reporter out of Paris. He was a Pulitzer finalist in 2006 for his coverage of terrorism and Muslim communities in Europe. He is the author of "Twilight on the Line: Underworlds and Politics at the U.S.-Mexico Border."

I'm told this and the sudden departure of Josh Meyer, another LAT-affiliated security reporter in the Washington bureau could affect Richard Serrano, a former D.C. reporter for the Times who was recently re-hired to work in Metro. He may be headed back to Washington.

Not all one-way: ProPublica has undertaken a number of investigative projects with the Times, one of which was singled out today by California Watch.