New Yorker
One often hears it said that New York Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. lacks sufficient gravitas for a man in his position, says Ken Auletta. "Sulzberger’s hair has begun to turn gray and to recede, and yet, like Tom Hanks in the movie 'Big,' he seems to be only impersonating an older man," writes Auletta. "He is often known as Young Arthur, and, behind his back, people still call him Pinch, in contrast to his father, Punch. He tends to draw attention to himself with a loud cackle or an awkwardly offhand remark." (Auletta discusses Sulzberger's personality and other NYT matters with Ben Greenman.) More from the story:
> Ex-NYT executive editor Howell Raines says: "It was well known throughout the paper that I believed the Times needed to improve its journalism and its business practices. It still does -- witness the declining stock price."
> Auletta writes: "The newsroom generally likes and respects [executive editor Bill] Keller -- he was one of the best foreign correspondents in the paper’s history -- but some people had seen him as aloof and, at times, given to strange jokes. ...A Times editor says of Keller, 'He’s a bit of a loner. He spends a lot of time in his office.'"
> Reporter Jennifer Steinhauer tells Auletta: "I really think the financial issue faced by this company and this industry is the big concern, and not Judith Miller. The health-care fund for Guild employees went belly up last year, so we had to give up our pay raises to fund it. Our stock options are under water. These are the kinds of things preoccupying people: What’s going to happen to this industry?"
> More on the Times from Seth Mnookin, who writes: "For the second time in less than three years, [Sulzberger's] being accused by his employees of being dangerously out of touch. Why, with a newsroom already so divided about Miller's behavior, did he need to wage such a public campaign on her behalf? 'I feel it's as inevitable that Arthur's going to go as I felt it was that Howell was going to go,' says an editor at the paper. That's probably an overstatement. Sulzberger's position can be threatened only by members of his family, who control the Times Company's Class B voting stock. But since Miller got out of jail, there's a mantra that's been repeated in the Times's newsroom: If Judy is the new Jayson, then Arthur is the new Howell." (Vanity Fair)
> Kaplan: Whatever its flaws, NYT is still the world's best paper (HP)
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