Posted on 06/07/2003 1:11:23 AM PDT by kattracks
Dressed in yellow shirt-sleeves and no tie, Joseph Lelyveld stepped back into his old role at The New York Times yesterday, summoned out of retirement to rescue the beleaguered broadsheet.Lelyveld began what he called a "brief" tenure as interim executive editor by telling reporters and editors what they wanted to hear - that he'll value their opinions. Quoting author Henry David Thoreau, Lelyveld said, "It takes two to speak the truth. One to speak, and another to hear."
The 200 staffers gathered in the W. 43rd St. newsroom responded with smiles and applause.
"He made it clear that, from this moment on, this will be a newsroom where people have the opportunity to talk, express opinions and come up with alternative opinions," said reporter Anthony DePalma. "There was very much a feeling that we've come through the other side."
Arthur Sulzberger Jr., publisher of The Times, introduced Lelyveld saying, "Welcome back, Joe."
Lelyveld, 66, left the paper in September 2001 because of a mandatory retirement policy.
The 10-minute morning meeting stood in dramatic contrast to the grim gathering a day earlier. Then, executive editor Howell Raines and managing editor Gerald Boyd wore coats and ties to announce their resignations as Arthur Sulzberger Sr., chairman emeritus of The Times Corp., and his son the publisher looked on.
The editors' departures followed five weeks of rancor and finger-pointing after rogue reporter Jayson Blair was charged with plagiarizing and concocting material.
"It was shocking," said Times metro editor Wendell Jamieson of Raines' surprise departure. "But you could feel the fog lifting" as Lelyveld walked around the newsroom late Thursday.
Times spokeswoman Catherine Mathis said it's expected Lelyveld's tenure will last weeks, not months. She said a search is underway inside and outside the paper for permanent replacements.
Staffers said they don't expect Lelyveld to make significant changes. They also don't expect he'll return to prominence any writers or editors who lost favor under Raines' 20-month rule.
"As long as I've been here, I've never seen a wrong righted. Once a mistake is made, it's made," said an editor who asked to remain anonymous.
Mathis also said the paper's effort to fully investigate the Blair scandal continues. "The committee will report back in July," she said.
Still, some staffers questioned the new open attitude, saying that at least some who publicly criticized Raines on Thursday were getting the cold shoulder from top execs yesterday.
With Beverley Wang
Originally published on June 7, 2003
I do not want alternative opinions, I want the news. Empowering the Liberal leftist reporters to give alternative opinions instead of the truth is the problem not the solution. IMHO
So the whole iceberg has left the building, and all the bad apples have been removed. I don't think so. It will take more than months, and more than 3-4 people leaving, to fix the problem here.
Journalists see this as an isolated situation. Seems to me that the only difference between this and the Enron/Andersen scandal is that the people who write columns and editorials do not have accounting degrees.
Gee, that sounds like age discrimination to me. Not very liberal of them, is it?
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