Free Republic

NEW YORK, Sep 10, 2003 (AP Online via COMTEX) -- The New York Times has appointed assistant managing editor Allan M. Siegal as its first standards editor, the newspaper reported. Siegal, who will retain his current title, will oversee the creation of new guidelines for the use of anonymous sources, bylines and datelines, according to a story in Wednesday's edition of the Times. In an e-mail to staff announcing the appointment Tuesday, Executive Editor Bill Keller said Siegal would be "the main internal sounding board for staff members who have doubts or complaints about the paper's content, whether already published...

There is no end to the soul-searching at The New York Times. Or the committees. The Times, already distracted by a month of scandals and newsroom unrest, was bracing for more of both as two ranking editors formed a second group to improve inhouse communications. Assistant Managing Editors Craig Whitney and Andrew Rosenthal invited staffers to join what they're calling the Communications Working Group. They said it would differ from a powerful committee headed by Assistant Managing Editor Allan Siegal by "concentrating on internal communications" and having no outside consultants. Many at The Times viewed formation of the new group...