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I saw this story being passed around by newspaper journalists on Twitter...surprised to see it here. When I retweeted the link, someone on Twitter (also a newsman) said he thinks the story is made up:

https://twitter.com/JohnRussell99/status/547814120679288832

It's too late on Christmas Eve to do more investigating before bedtime, but I did find this interesting snippet while Googling around for Al Reck; this is his obituary:

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1350&dat=19670419&id=h...

> Al Reck, a real life city editor whose career reads like a Hollywood scenario, died yesterday. He was 69. His exploits in 43 years of newspaper work included deep sea diving to identify a crashed airplane and riding a rum-runner's boat to expose prohibition. He covered news, he made it, and found faster ways to report it...Mr. Reck was among the first to use planes in reporting news. He toured Latin America with Charles Lindbergh, found a missing group of scientists, and was present at a meeting in Havana that led to the formation of Pan American World Airways

So I don't know if the OP is made up (I'll ask the objecting Twitterer tomorrow)...but it certainly doesn't sound like too outlandish of a story given the accomplishments credited to Mr. Reck in his obituary.

We think alike, I looked him up online as well.

1. WWI hero who was left for dead on the battlefield, captured and then escaped German captivity twice

2. Foreign correspondent

3. Worked for a Congressman which explains his D.C. connections

4. Rigged up a wireless set with car batteries and reported live from a Miami hurricane

Sounded like he was a larger than life guy.

Seems like it'd be easy enough to verify, if someone in Oakland can go down to a local library and check the microfilm. http://oaklandtribunearchives.tumblr.com/help
The young columnist, Al Martinez, was a fixture of the LA Times for many years. He's in declining health now, and has retired from regular reporting. He remains an icon of LA journalism.

His tone has become more serious, but also somewhat more playful, as the stakes have raised.

Here is a nice recent piece of his: http://www.laobserved.com/intell/2014/08/always_leave_them_l...

a more readable version: https://getscroll.com/r/52pqg
I like that story. There's something of a koan about it.
That's a very sweet story (sorry for the pun), but of course it's absolutely not what journalists are supposed to do.
Fuck that. Journalists are human beings and that _is_ what human beings are supposed to do.
I've read the other day the code of ethics for engineers. It said there that an engineer is supposed to put the public interest before his job.
Human first, journalist second.

Sheesh.