Gracias Frank Mickadeit..., by Gustavo Arellano, Orange County Weekly, September 14, 2007

Gracias, Frank Mickadeit...

By Gustavo Arellano
Orange County Weekly
September 14, 2007

http://blogs.ocweekly.com/navelgazing/ex-cathedra/gracias-frank-mickadeit/#more

[See also other articles by Gustavo Arellano.]

...for acknowledging in his Orange County Register column today that the Weekly broke the Bishop Tod Brown molestation allegation five months ago. We e-mailed Mickadeit, his colleague Rachanee Srisavasdi, and Los Angeles Times Orange County editor (and former religion reporter) William Lobdell and asked them to acknowledge the Weekly in reporting about the Brown deposition; only Mickadeit complied with the truth.

But then, Mickadeit went further:

"And in our own nod to openness, we must report that Gustavo Arellano of the OC Weekly reported the accusation in April, but the diocese refused to comment, and other media didn't pay much attention. Let's just say the mainstream media in this county, myself included at times, has a history of failing its readers/viewers/listeners by not following some pieces the Weekly breaks. A column for another day."

Just one correction, Frank. No local media paid any attention to Brown's molestation allegation after the Weekly article hit. Hell, we even made it easy for everyone to follow up by making the documents revealing Brown's molestation allegation public--and still, nothing until this week. Because ustedes didn't follow up on the story, Diocese of Orange attorney Peter Callahan argued before a judge that the story was "not a compelling matter of public interest" since "it was not picked up in the legitimate press" and thus tried to guard Brown from a deposition in another case.

But I digress. Mickadeit is extremely gracious in his acknowledgment and it's heartbreaking to see his Catholic faith tested with each daily revelation. As to that, Frank: welcome to the club.