David Lazarus' final column

I’ve worked for newspapers since I was a student at UC Berkeley, including stints at the San Francisco Examiner, the Bangkok Post, the Japan Times, the San Francisco Chronicle and now the biggest newsroom west of the Mississippi. This is my final column for the Los Angeles Times; I’ll be moving into television full-time. There’s no need for me to point out the precarious state of the newspaper business. This industry is now very different from the one I fell in love with in college. I pray things get better — both for my hardworking colleagues and for the millions of Americans who rely on a free press to speak truth to power and safeguard democracy. The criticism I’ve heard most frequently is that I’m anti-business. Not so. I’m a believer in capitalism and have great respect for businesspeople who meet so many of society’s needs. What I am is pro-fairness. What I am is pro-accountability. I believe that it’s perfectly fine to make a profit as long as that profit is earned equitably and honestly, and by treating customers with the respect they deserve. But when businesses cross the line — when they make their money with practices that are unfair, unethical or abusive — that’s when they need to be called to order.