Newspaper writer makes beeline for government trough, feels apparent spiritual connection

12/1/10, "As newspapers shrink, journalists land jobs in state government," Stateline.org, by R. Gurwitt

"The California Senate office, however, is the only one to rely so heavily on refugees from newspaper cost-cutting. Korber, the first consultant hired for the new office,

• put in a call to a Senate contact within minutes after finding a buyout notice on her desk at the Bee.

That’s when she heard about Steinberg’s plans to build a new government watchdog office. “It was exciting,” she says, “because we would be creating this new thing on the fly.”...

The most pointed criticism...has come from a former colleague. Dan Walters, a longtime columnist at the Bee, has written two columns criticizing their work for not uncovering the kind of blockbuster scandals he would have expected....

“They do produce stuff, but it’s basically staff type of stuff, and doesn’t come up to what I know they’re capable of doing. It doesn’t seem to be generating anything that really is of big significance.”...

• Another story about seamless transitions between alleged media watchdogs and their pals in government. ed.

via Poynter.org/Romenesko