Ex-Times reporters launch investigative unit

Myron Levin and Joanna Lin's nonprofit FairWarning.org plans to investigate issues involving safety, health and corporate conduct. "The hope is to provide stories of vital public interest that are overlooked or under-reported in most media," says Levin, 61, who took a 2008 buyout from the L.A. Times after 23 years. He says the Sherman Oaks-based operation has $250,000 in funding the first year, from donors such as the Ethics and Excellence Journalism Foundation and the Charles Evans Foundation. Media Matters via Romenesko

Levin, by the way, was one of the plaintiffs in the class-action federal lawsuit against Sam Zell by current and past journalists at the Times. Levin left the Times with a strongly worded message for the paper's owners.