Back by popular demand, we continue with the OC Power Brokers Series.
This time, Media.
What makes an OC Power Broker? Well it is a little different for a member of the media than for the previous groups (lawyers, and parts one and two). For a journalist it means: 1) they have wide spread relationships with people in government, politics, business and community, 2) they can be trusted implicitly, if you have a tip that can’t look like it came from you or if they call for background, you can be sure “off the record” has meaning with them, 3) they have the juice to get something published, they can stand up to their editors and win the fight when necessary or in the case of the self publishers, they rarely pull any punches.
For all those reason here are your OC Power Broker Journalists (in no particular order):
Jean Pasco – Los Angeles Times
Pasco has been around for a long time (although she doesn’t look it). Formerly with the OC Register, now she is pretty much the only reporter covering OC politics at the Times. If you started in politics or government more than 20 years ago, you might not know any other reporters but you know and trust Jean.
Martin Wisckol – Orange County Register
Martin came on the scene in 1998 and made a reputation of honest, accurate reporting. If his reporting suggests to you that he has access to people at the highest levels of government and elective office, you are right. It is pretty hard to accuse Wisckol of having an agenda, because he rarely does. The Buzz, his weekly Monday column is a must read for anyone who is reading this. He takes the most important, funny, interesting politico gossip and news that doesn’t merit a full article and serves it up.
Rick Reiff – Orange County Business Journal
Executive editor (whatever that means) for the Business Journal, Reiff also hosts his own KOCE (PBS) show Inside OC. Rick has naturally conservative tendencies but views the world with a healthy amount of skepticism. He along with OCBJ publisher Richard Reisman have built the paper into a very highly regarded source for business news. Reiff’s opinion is always riddled with whit and his Insider column is another must read. The column features some politics but also gives the rest of us a peak inside the world of OC’s elite business types.
R. Scott Moxley – OC Weekly
Senior editor for news and investigations, most people who read the Weekly would agree that they use the word “investigations” loosely. But Moxley and the Weekly serve an important purpose, in between exposing things that don’t really need exposing and getting the facts right once in a while as they land a big story and scoop the dailies. Moxley also does some cool things like publish the actual documents, photos—the smoking gun that other print media won’t.
Frank Mickadeit – Orange County Register
Everyone’s favorite columnist, Mickadeit created his column from nothing and now it is one of the first things anyone in the know reads every weekday. Mickadeit has the luxury of spending weeks on end at trials and giving us the inside scoop with commentary that other reporters can’t. He has a way that allows him to hang with high dollar GOP donors while smoking Cubans one day and rolling up his sleeves and doing repair work on his VW van the next. He is one hell of a marksman too, but that’s a story for another day.
Steve Greenhut – Orange County Register
By far the most influential opinion writer in OC, he is not afraid to take on ‘City Hall’. He keeps the flames of libertarianism alive at the Register. He writes columns, editorials and has a great outlet in the Orange Punch Blog. I think he has the hardest job in journalism in OC given all the original thought he needs to covert into quality writings.
Alicia Robinson – Daily Pilot
The only reporter working for a paper that does not go countywide, she covers politics in Newport and Costa Mesa. With all the Special Election action in the last several months she has had increasing impact on elections. She brings the business of campaigning to the voters more than any other reporter for a daily.
Jon Fleischman – Flashreport.org
Publisher of this site—the definitive source for news about California politics and government. While not focused on Orange County, Jon is a Power Broker for other reasons, but for the purposes of this list, he is a very influential journalist, based in Orange County.
Jubal – Ocblog.net
About a year old the OCblog is an incredible resource. The site features anonymous bloggers, chief among them is Jubal. There has been lots of speculation about who he is, he even appeared recently on Rick Reiff’s OC Insider show (his face and voice were disguised). Every rumor, campaign update and stupid government bureaucrat move ends up exposes by Jubal who’s identity remains elusive but his impact is big.
Hugh Hewitt – Nationally Syndicated Radio host and publisher of the his own Blog
While Hewitt is based in OC his reach is national. He is heard on over 100 stations nationwide. His blog is one of the most visited in the entire Internet. This conservative has influence over federal policy making and hobnobs with other conservative elites.