ARAX IS NEWS IN FRESNO *
Kevin Roderick

LA Observed, CA
May 9 2007

Times reporter Mark Arax lives with his family in Fresno and has
deep roots there – his 1996 book In My Father’s Name investigated
the failure of the Fresno police to solve his father’s murder in the
1960s and chronicled the story of the Armenian immigrant presence in
the area. So his public battle with LAT editors over a story about
the Armenian genocide cracked the weekend Fresno Bee.

A well-known Fresno author and journalist is waging a heated battle
with his boss at the Los Angeles Times — a very public struggle that
has outraged many in Southern California’s large Armenian community.

It’s also reverberating in Fresno, not only because of the sizable
local Armenian population, but because Times staffer Mark Arax lives
here and is of Armenian descent.

"People I talked to locally are really upset," said Varoujan Der
Simonian, executive director of the Armenian Technology Group,
a Fresno-based nonprofit that provides support for Armenian farmers.

Arax’s name is pretty much number one on the speculative lists
of probable buyout takers circulating in Times newsrooms. Others
frequently mentioned with the deadline looming are former Business
Editor Bill Sing, Moscow correspondent David Holley, Seattle
correspondent Sam Howe Verhovek, West magazine refugee J.R.

Moehringer and L.A. reporters Glenn Bunting, Chuck Philips, Ralph
Frammolino and Gary Cohn. Staffers have to commit by Monday, and
some are receiving more unofficial encouragement to take the offer
than others. Also, Kevin Sack, who came in the Carroll-Baquet era,
is said to be returning to the New York Times in Atlanta.

* Making a decision: Philips emails that he’s staying: "I’ve got
scoops in the pipeline."

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From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress