Despite retraction: "A spokeswoman for the newspaper said [Chuck] Philips, a Pulitzer Prize winner, would remain with the newspaper as an investigative reporter. She would not comment on whether any disciplinary measures had been taken." [Times]

It had already apologized, but now the LA Times has formally retracted its story about how producer Puff Daddy knew in advance that rapper Tupac Shakur would be gunned down in 1994. The paper retracted not only the story but statements from two chats and a blog post. The article is coming off the website. Specific names are formally cleared (lawyers were obviously involved in the writing of this thing). The worst part? The retraction and publicity around it come on the day Pulitzer prizes are set to be announced at noon. Some are already predicting a shut out for the paper.

This weekend, L.A. Times writer Stephanie Simon, lived the Newsday dream and got Rupert Murdoch as a boss. The national reporter is leaving Sam Zell's fun factory Tribune Co. for the Wall Street Journal. Simon's decision is just one of the many depressing departures from the L.A. Times. After the jump, a few discouraging memos from her fellow ship-jumpers. [via LA Observed]

Self-referential LA Times humor person Joel Stein finally says "fuck everything" today, and writes a column about Julia Allison [LAT]. Yes. He calls her "a genius," but perhaps this was just a bit of flattery to draw some good quotes out of her. Here she is explaining the thinking behind her fake role as "editor at large" for Star, in an interview she gives via cell phone while shopping for clothes: "The people who do corporate strategy are understanding the power of three or four minutes on a cable network or a morning show. It's the best publicity you can get. Oh, that is the cutest dress I've ever seen. Oh my! Oh my God! I can't handle it. Anyway, with the advent of 24-hour news networks, you have an incredible amount of air time to fill." Shopping and building her brand at the same time! In case you're still stuck in the old, outdated journalism world, Julia breaks down how she is really just as smart as—or smarter than—any other REPORTER or whatever:

What time is it? Time to pile on the LA Times for its fictitious Tupac shooting story! When one of the nation's top four papers (or, one that once held that position) splashes an investigative story this big that turns out to be based on forged evidence from a lifelong con man, you can expect a lot of tsk-tsking from the journalism establishment. But actually the reaction has been pretty muted. The reason: most reporters know deep down that they could be done in by fake documents just as easily. Slate's Jack Shafer has a rather gentle column today on what LAT reporter Chuck Philips could have done differently—mainly, don't trust con men, and always vet your documents. Your sympathy for Philips (those were convincing forgeries, after all) might be diminished, though, by this quote he gave in a recent web chat, defending his 2002 story that alleged that Biggie "Christopher Wallace" Smalls was involved in Tupac's murder—he sure was sensitive about forged documents back then:

The LA Times has now apologized for its story last week asserting that Puff Daddy knew in advance about the 1994 shooting and robbery of Tupac Shakur. It looked bad since The Smoking Gun ran its debunking of the Times' evidence yesterday, but this was a very quick collapse of a very big story. The paper's own investigation is ongoing. And one of the guys named as a conspirator in the story is promising an "epic lawsuit." [LAT]

NYT reporter Mike Nizza was toiling away on the LA Times' fraudulent Tupac story beat yesterday, explaining to racist elderly Times readers what went wrong, and who all these hip hop people are. Then, like a ray of sunlight piercing the clouds over Shaolin, a reader made a joke about Wu-Tang in the comments. Mike was all over it! It really brightened up his day, we think, to know that somebody else out there is available to discuss how cool it is that Raekwon dropped that "I grew up on the crime side, the New York Times side" lyric on "C.R.E.A.M." Unlike the dorks in the Times cafeteria who don't appreciate it at all. Somebody rescue this man! Click to enlarge the key exchange of internet musical acknowledgments.

The Smoking Gun has a treasure trove of incriminating information on Jimmy Sabatino, the incarcerated serial con man who the site says forged documents that the LA Times relied on in its (now doubtful) scoop associating Puff Daddy with the 1994 shooting and robbery of Tupac Shakur. Sabatino's shady and unreliable nature was well known; back in 1999, the Miami New Times published a long feature story titled "Con Kid" that detailed Sabatino's history of outrageous scams that he used to hobnob with celebrities and land free stuff. TSG also says that Sabatino's father is a restaurant manager, not a mobster as the LAT reported (and we repeated). The LAT's story today on the launch of its own internal investigations notes that the paper "has not identified the source of the purported FBI reports," but that would presumably change if it turns out Sabatino was the source, and the documents were false. After the jump, a screengrab [via TSG] of Sabatino's MySpace page—the entire "About Me" section is apparently fiction:

The Smoking Gun says that the LA Times' big investigative scoop last week implicating Bad Boy records chief Sean "Puffy" Combs in the 1994 shooting and robbery of rival rapper Tupac Shakur was based on fabricated evidence. The site says that James Sabatino (pictured)—an incarcerated con man who appeared as a player in the shooting in the LAT story—is actually a fabulist who forged the FBI reports that the paper relied on to build its investigation.

Rap mogul Sean "Puff Diddy Daddy" Combs has denied yesterday's LA Times report that he had advance knowledge of a 1994 ambush on rival Tupac Shakur that left Tupac with five bullet wounds. Jimmy "Henchman" Rosemond, the music manager that the Times named as the mastermind of the attack, also denied the charges. The Times is standing by its story so far. Below, Puffy's and Rosemond's statements—as well as (BONUS!) the lyrics to two verses of "Who Shot Ya?," the 1994 Biggie Smalls/ Puffy song that was widely believed to be an allusion to the Tupac shooting in question.

We're not sure we can forgive the crotchety old Tribune Company owner. It's one thing to curse at your staff. And making layoffs is harsh but necessary. But doing away with public tours of the L.A. Times headquarters? Sam Zell, you just crossed the line, big time. As part of a cost-saving measure, the L.A. Times is canceling tours and their resident guide Darrell Kunitom is accepting a buyout. Full buyout list, including Pulitzer Prize winners and a good chunk of the Times's Washington bureau, after the jump. [via LA Observed]

Sam Zell is the charismatic CEO of the Tribune Company. Charismatic in a way only journalists would appreciate, which means he's always cursing about something. It's amazing how a quick "fuck you" has kept his staff charmed. But after yesterday's Newsday cuts, Sam Zell's "Fuck Yous" are more than straight talk—he's really going to fuck his employees.

Just what the interweb needs: More middle-aged sports bloggers! The LA Times has launched a blog by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the bald-headed intellectual responsible for the skyhook and six NBA championships. Kareem is the rare professional athlete who became an author and historian, so his blog is, frankly, better written than most metro papers. And it includes a lesson on the black history angle of the invention of the lightbulb! So that's useful. But is this whole athlete/ blogger thing really a road we want to trod? Because Mr. Abdul-Jabbar might be the smartest guy doing it, but he's DAMN sure not the only one. Everything you need to know and nothing more, explained right now.

"I am convinced that if [Heath Ledger's] heart-wrenching video had aired, it would have gotten through and had a positive effect on young people in America. Perhaps it could have even saved lives." Also: "Had TMZ not videotaped [Britney Spears'] high-speed driving antics, her erratic mood swings, her British accent, those kids might still be riding around with her — and probably not in child-safety seats. And she might not be in UCLA Medical Center right now, with her parents around her, finally getting the medical help she desperately needs. [LA Times]

Sure he'll stand idly by as the Los Angeles Times fires a succession of editors with backbone but Sam Zell, the mercurial owner of the Tribune Company, is a laissez-faire kinda guy. In a recent memo to staff he informed them now they can surf the internets completely unmonitored. " I do not see how a member of the Fourth Estate, dedicated to protecting the First Amendment, can censor what its own employees and partners can see." Is Zell truly the internet's Adam Smith or has he simply realized that if passengers on the RMS Titanic had been able to use Facebook, they would have all slid into the Atlantic pacified and peacefully? Full memo after the jump.

Rough week for LA Times, as duly noted. Not only did publisher/meanie David D. Hiller fire newly-appointed editor James O'Shea but then the paper got scooped on its own story by the Wall Street Journal. Finally there is a story up online on the LAT site today. And what do we learn? Well, first of all, gnome snakecharmer and LAT owner Sam Zell is described as a "baron" which doesn't bode well for employee/management relations. Also it turns out James O'Shea, like John Carroll and Dean Baquet before him, was fired for resisting management's constant pressure for budget cuts. Speaking of which, tonight, the Wire, budget cuts are coming and no one is safe. (Of course, one of the hated suits in the Wire is based on Carroll, who went on from the Baltimore Sun to become a newspaper martyr at the Los Angeles Times.)

The LA Times is letting editor James O'Shea go at the end this week. O'Shea was hired 14 months ago after the last guy couldn't figure out how to save the newspaper industry. Management was really, really hopeful that O'shea would be able to figure it out, but more than a year later - a whole year - the paper's still in the same god damn mess. Chaos at the highest levels is clearly a sound strategy for transforming an obsolete business model. Keep it up, LA Times. You'll be out of this in no time.

Sam Zell, gnomic mercurial new owner of the Los Angeles Times plastered huge banners inside the office reading "You Own This Place Now." Was this just just a note to himself in case he forgot? Nope! Most people don't forget an 8.2 billion dollar acquisition that quickly. Instead, as Times publisher David Hiller mentions in an email,

20+ year vet Glenn Bunting left the L.A. Times in the recent buyouts. Now he works for PR man Mike Sitrick. When the LAT entertainment editor got wind that he was coming into the building to deal with some expense reports (or maybe to get advance on a story about a client running this weekend!), she reached for all her guns and had him barred from the building. (We hear the story running this weekend is about a Sitrick client lady lawyer with a not-so-great win/loss ratio!) [LA Observed]

Bad news for those seeking knowledge of the fellatory arts from alleged humorist Joel Klein (a god to those in their twenties and thirties who like to give and get oral sex): Joel has pulled out of his scheduled stint as blowjob instructor at L.A.'s Babeland, apparently under pressure from his Los Angeles Times paymasters, who presumably understand that they look ridiculous enough already without one of their columnists providing examples of how to suck in other forums. It's a blow—ha ha, get it?—to anyone who had hoped to further their understanding of the male wang from its living embodiment. The class will continue on without Joel, but really, the whole thing just feels like a tease. Were we more mouthy we'd register our deep-throated disapproval of this early withdrawal; it just seems kind of toothless.