On April 28-29, The Los Angeles Times will hold its 12th annual Festival of Books. The event is one of the largest book fairs in the country and features over 400 authors and almost 100 panels on subjects ranging from “Food Fight: When Did Eating Get Controversial?” to “Sands of Strife: The Middle East .”

But in the realm of media, the festival features two events that seem to be stacked in favor of the media’s Dark Ages, despite the fact that these panels purport to be about the future. Take a look at the forward thinkers the Times has assembled for these discussions:

Mark Halperin – Political analyst for ABC News.
Halperin co-wrote a “memo” for ABC’s The Note that itemized, “How the (liberal) Old Media plans to cover the last two weeks of the election.” It appears to be transcribed directly from the mind of an acutely paranoid Neocon. He also told Bill O’Reilly that…

“if you want to thrive like Fox News Channel, you want to have a future, you better make sure conservatives find your product appealing.”

Jim O’Shea – Editor, L. A. Times.
O’Shea took over the editor’s desk when Dean Baquet was fired for refusing to go along with more draconian staff cuts. Publisher David Hiller, who replaced Jeff Johnson (who was shown the door for the same reason as Baquet), brought O’Shea in from the Chicago hive, Tribune’s headquarters that also spawned Hiller.

James Taranto – Editor of the Wall Street Journal’s OpinionJournal.
Taranto’s web site has made his view of new media exceedingly clear with the words of featured columnist Joseph Rago :

“The blogs are not as significant as their self-endeared curators would like to think. Journalism requires journalists, who are at least fitfully confronting the digital age. The bloggers, for their part, produce minimal reportage. Instead, they ride along with the MSM like remora fish on the bellies of sharks, picking at the scraps.”

Hugh Hewitt – Radio talk show host.
What can I say about Hewitt that he can’t embarrass himself with on his own? At least he is an active blogger and an advocate of the medium. But he is also a highly partisan activist who believes that…

“liberal media has destroyed the necessity of the left having to debate, having to reach a message across, because you guys [the press] have always papered over the weakness of their arguments.”

Jill Leovy – L. A. Time crime reporter.
Leovy’s online Homicide Report is not much more than a list documenting the city’s fatal obsessions. Poynter Online reviewed the site saying…

“While comments are allowed, this blog really isn’t about conversation between blogger and community. Leovy focuses on traditional reporting, and doesn’t seem to respond to comments so far.”

Kevin Roderick – Editor, LAObserved.
Roderick’s LAObserved is actually a pretty good example of the thoughtful use of modern online communications. The site covers local news and culture with diverse subjects and good sources.

If it was the goal of the Times to impanel credible experts on the “Future of News” and “Blogging & Beyond” they failed pitifully. Most of the speakers above are sorely lacking in expertise on these subjects. On the contrary, they would be better suited for historical panels on Dinosaur Media. And for good measure, most represent a predominantly right wing perspective that fits nicely with the slant of the Times. This is an embarrassingly light-weight line-up that is unlikely to cast any light on these important issues.