Good day for LAT in exile at NYT

In Sunday's New York Times, it was hard to miss the bylines that were once among the top-billed names at the Los Angeles Times — but left either for a better job with more prestige in journalism circles, or were excused in various cost-cutting reductions by the down-scaling L.A. paper. Most notably, the cover of the New York Times Magazine was filled by Jeffrey Gettleman, the NYT's East Africa bureau chief, writing about the couple that was held by Somali pirates for 388 days. Also in the magazine, Carina Chocano profiles TV creator and writer Mike White. In the front news section, former Africa correspondent Marc Lacey writes from Arizona. Elizabeth Jensen, the former LAT TV reporter, has a story on PBS. And though I didn't see a story in Sunday's paper, Charles Duhigg has had some strong coverage of the Steve Jobs death. Also, while not by a former L.A. Times staffer, the NYT had a good piece Sunday from South Bay on the July suicide of ex-Yankee Hideki Irabu.

Adding insult to...: Doubleday, the publisher of L.A. Times columnist Jim Newton's new biography of Dwight Eisenhower, bought a full-page ad for the book in the New York Times Book Review, on page 5.