(Hey, Howell -- your fly's open.)
Posted on 12/05/2002 5:40:48 AM PST by PJ-Comix
It's been a big week at the New York Times. My sources tell me morale is at or about bottom as Howell Raines continues his manic attempt to corral news stories and now columns to reflect a party line. The Times has now run over 40 stories or columns on the Augusta National Golf Club non-story, all parroting the same line. The resignation of one out of around 300 club members made it to the front page of a national newspaper. The Times has now spiked two dissenting columns and, according to the columnists, the reason was their dissent from the official position. Even a Raines defender, Jack Shafer, has given up, while Raines' critics, ahem, are feeling vindicated. Perhaps sensing how much damage has been done to the Times' reputation, Gerald Boyd, Howell Raines' underling, sent out this priceless leaked memo yesterday. Boyd is unapologetic about the Times' crazed fascination with the Augusta National Golf Club, comparing it in the same sentence with the need to report on Afghanistan: "There is only one word for our vigor in pursuing a story - whether in Afghanistan or Augusta. Call it journalism." Boyd then denies that the two columns were spiked for ideological reasons. But his memo shows nothing of the kind. First off, Boyd concedes that David Anderson's piece was spiked because it took on the position of the editorial page. But isn't that exactly what the Times is accused of? Here's the rationale:
One of the columns focused centrally on disputing The Times's editorials about Augusta. Part of our strict separation between the news and editorial pages entails not attacking each other. Intramural quarreling of that kind is unseemly and self-absorbed. Discussion of editorials may arise when we report on an issue; fair enough. But we do not think they should be the issue.Where to start with this? First off, a self-confident paper would be perfectly happy to have some internal debate. Second, if you really had to, you could ask the columnist to remove the direct reference to the Times editorial page and make his argument instead. But notice the slipperiness of this Boyd's logic in any case. Intramural civility is the rule. Which means no open disagreement with the editorial page. Which is dictated by Raines. So "civility" is a euphemism for conformity - especially on contentious issues. And then notice how self-defeating it is. The fact is that the Times has become "the issue" - but not because of dissenting columnists but because of the ham-fisted way in which those columnists have been treated.
| NYT M.E. Gerald Boyd's memo re Augusta |
| 12/4/2002 4:45:56 PM Posted By: Jim Romenesko Howell and I believe you should know The Times's response to questions that have been raised by some published reports in recent days about our coverage of the Augusta Golf Club story and our handling of sports columns on the subject. First, we are proud of our leadership in covering this story. Our sports staff, with help from many desks, is doing exactly what some "accuse" us of doing: asking questions that no other organization is raising, and pressing energetically for the answers our readers want. Augusta's restricted membership policies have been legitimate news for decades. With the ascendance of Tiger Woods and the campaign by the National Council of Women's Organizations, the club has become an inescapable story. The decisions faced by CBS, a leading network that is a 46-year Masters partner of the club, are a significant part of the story. There is only one word for our vigor in pursuing a story -- whether in Afghanistan or Augusta. Call it journalism. Columnists in the news pages hold a special place at The Times. Each has wide latitude to speak with an individual point of view, always informed by diligent reporting and intelligent reasoning. In the sports pages, columnists have unique license to go beyond analytical writing and -- still informed by their reporting -- engage in robust argument, even express personal opinions on any side of an issue, within the bounds of sport, broadly defined. Still, these columns are not on the Op-Ed page, and all newsroom writers are subject to our standards of tone, taste and relevance to the subject at hand. We are an edited newspaper: that is one of our strengths, and we believe our staff takes pride in it. Recently we spiked two sports columns that touched on the Augusta issue. We were not concerned with which "side" the writers were on. A well-reported, well-reasoned column can come down on any side, with our welcome. One of the columns focused centrally on disputing The Times's editorials about Augusta. Part of our strict separation between the news and editorial pages entails not attacking each other. Intramural quarreling of that kind is unseemly and self-absorbed. Discussion of editorials may arise when we report on an issue; fair enough. But we do not think they should be the issue. In the case of this column, the writer had previously dealt with the Augusta controversy at least twice, arguing on October 6 against pressuring the golf club to admit women. His freedom to argue that way was not -- is not -- in question. The other spiked column tried to draw a connection between the Augusta issue and the elimination of women's softball from the Olympics. The logic did not meet our standards: that would have been true regardless of which "side" the writer had taken on Augusta. The writer was invited to try again, but we did not think the logic improved materially. None of what appears here should be taken as criticism of our columnists, whose work we value tremendously. And we would be happy to discuss our thinking over lunch or in any appropriate setting. Perhaps we need better-understood definitions or a more pronounced sense of column boundaries. At any rate, we hope no member of our staff really needs this assurance that our news columns enforce no "party line." But all of you are welcome to come and talk with us whenever you have concerns or want to hear ours. December 4, 2002 |
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(Hey, Howell -- your fly's open.)
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!
Who are this preternaturally ugly guy & gal? (I'm TV deprived).
As Rosanne Rosanna Danno would say, "If it ain't one thing - it's another!" I grew up hearing my mother declare everything from uanattractive people to butt-ugly furniture as "ugly as a tree full of hoot-owls". But RJayneJ had me LOLing with the "scare the driver off a gut wagon". :o) fsf
Anybody holding their breath waiting for this column?
It has always been clear that the leftest social and political views of the ownership must be supported for any person writer or reporter to progress professionally at this "newspaper."
It is simply a trade of one's honor for status within the organization.
My grandpa used to say "drive a dog off a gut wagon", or "that's enough to make a mare bite her colt". I guess I'm a hick.
~Arrrrrrrgh!~
HEY, STUPID! The editorials ARE the issue because it is the Times that is giving mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to a story that would have died long ago due to lack of interest!
As a Newsweek story (by Seth Mnookin) posted on MSNBC noted:
On Nov. 25, the New York Times ran a front-page story headlined CBS STAYING SILENT IN DEBATE ON WOMEN JOINING AUGUSTA. It was the 32d piece the Times had run in just under three months on the issue of whether the Augusta National Golf Club, which hosts the Masters Tournament, would admit women as members.The [news] story spanked the TV network that has a contract to air the Masters for “resisting the argument that it can do something to alter the club’s policy,” although it was unclear who—other than the Times—was making the argument; as the piece eventually noted, “public pressure on CBS to take a stand has been glancing.” “That was just shocking,” one Times staffer said on the condition that his name not be used. “It makes it hard for us to have credibility on other issues. We don’t run articles that just say so-and-so is staying silent. We run articles when something important actually happens.”
This is the best I can do. Scroll down and click watch. Don't watch too long or your monitor screen will crack. };^D)
. . . I think
:-D
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