Patterico catches LA Times columnist using mulitple IDs

This is just incredible. I’d be doing it an injustice if I copied and pasted small snippets of what was said there regarding the multiple IDs that Patterico has caught LA Times columnist Michael Hiltzik using.

Having multiple IDs in and of itself is not necessarily a bad thing, but if you’re using them to defend and prop up one of your other IDs, well – it’s a problem.

Hiltzik’s response is an absolutely laughable strawman, as he makes the argument about anonymity on the Internet in and of itself – which, as you’ll clearly see from Patterico’s smackdown, the issue is not anonymity it’s the use of multiple anonymous IDs to defend your other IDs. Make sure to check out the comments section to Hiltzik’s post, too. No one is buying what he’s selling.

Update 10:50 PM: Via the LATimes blog:

Notice from the Editors
The Times has suspended Michael Hiltzik’s Golden State blog on latimes.com. Hiltzik admitted Thursday that he posted items on the paper’s website, and on other websites, under names other than his own. That is a violation of The Times ethics guidelines, which requires editors and reporters to identify themselves when dealing with the public. The policy applies to both the print and online editions of the newspaper. The Times is investigating the postings.

I’m with Patterico, who writes:

I hope that this is not the end of the paper’s experiment in using the Internet to interact with its readers. It is a noble experiment, and I want to see it continue.

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