Comments on: Message to Chairman of New York Times Arthur O. Sulzberger Jr: Don’t Jump!

By: Marian Schembari

Marian Schembari — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 04:52:10 +0000

Agreed. Yuck is all I can say to that. People (unfortunately) like scapegoats, especially if they’re the ones being affected.
http://www.marianlibrarian.com
@marianschembari

By: Lisanne!

Lisanne! — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 21:05:11 +0000

Arthur Sulzberger Jr. wants to be dynamic, and that, I believe, is both his greatest strength and most troubling weakness. He’s taken the Times into the 21st century and has engaged the company in projects that have either succeeded beyond expectation or accumulated significant losses. Overall, however, he has been a positive force in journalism. The publication of a smear article right now is tasteless, the Times is having serious financial problems, and it’s no fault of Mr. Sulzberger’s. The article is rather childish, and really an unnecessary exercise in slash journalism.

Maybe someone could write a similar piece about Mr. Bowden. Then again, who would care enough about the subject to read that article.

By: Peter L. Winkler

Peter L. Winkler — Fri, 08 May 2009 01:57:35 +0000

Most of the characterisation you quoted is a matter of opinion, not fact. Only frequent observers of Sulzberger can say whether there’s truth in Bowden’s portrayal of his subject.

That being said, it’s sad but true that publishers and many readers have an insatiable appetite for mean-spirited gossip, and writers soon learn that this is expected of them. Someone once described Vanity Fair as People magazine wihout an inferiority complex.

By: Mike Savage

Mike Savage — Thu, 07 May 2009 15:20:59 +0000

Interesting to read this stuff from the hinterlands. Bowden’s writing reminded me of what Stephen King’s said of his own work in his “On Writing.” King said that for much of his career he was too, too wasted to even remember what he had written. Maybe Mark’s misstep is symptomatic of some other needs not getting met. It’ll be interesting to see if any negative aftershocks in the publishing world reverberate back to Bowden causing tectonic harm to his career. Sort of a “No good deed goes unpunished,” potential here.

And Lynn, about the per copy price. Last February in Ireland it was 2.25 to 3 Euros a day for the Irish Times and it’s brethren with no evidence of slumping retail sales that I could see. I’m thinking U.S. readers have had it so good for so long, pricewise, that the stress of paying as much for the paper as for the coffee is bordering on trauma.

As I’ve long said: “Content is King.” For the Times? (Irish or otherwise?) I’ll pay.

By: Russell Bittner

Russell Bittner — Thu, 07 May 2009 04:31:06 +0000

Lynne,

“Whoever edited his article at Vanity Fair: You�re FIRED!”

Yup. I couldn’t agree more — though one would think a self-respecting journalist would know how to edit his/her own work beyond the pale (or pail).

“Am I one of just a few Times� readers who would miss the print edition terribly?”

No, you’re not. But, I assume, you’re also not just one of many travelers who’d miss trains, boats and planes if they suddenly disappeared. We live in turbulent times. Newspapers, trains, boats and planes are luxuries. Let’s try to be content with food and a roof. Most of the world does just that — and sometimes, with much less.

Russell

No, Lynne, you’re not.

By: Mark

Mark — Wed, 06 May 2009 23:48:44 +0000

June 1st, the daily NYT goes to $2.00 and Sunday�s to $5.00.

Note from the Wicked Witch of Publishing (TM): The $2.00/day will push me to the Internet site, but I’ll still spring for the Sunday New York Times, a cup of coffee and a bagel at the local deli!

By: Anon

Anon — Tue, 05 May 2009 23:11:32 +0000

I think a bit of pique over Pinch’s refusal to talk and his insistence that others not talk either is, I think, evident.

By: Lynne

Lynne — Tue, 05 May 2009 13:34:01 +0000

Check out Frank Wilson's comment about this posting over at the blog, Books, Inq. -- The Epilogue. Frank is the retired book review editor of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Defending Pinch...

By: Lynne

Lynne — Tue, 05 May 2009 13:17:26 +0000

I forgot to mention that Mark Bowden also says that while Sulzberger Jr is a “careful steward, what the Times needs today is some wild-eyed genious of an entrepreneur.”

I agree. In fact, I believe “Young Arthur’s” Round Table — which might be the Board — should comprise a mix of business people with legacy knowledge about the publishing industry AND some young Turks with derring-do. Take a look at the Board of Directors of The New York Times Company.

What do you think about their credentials and accomplishments given that the Times is down on one knee?

By: Dave Newton

Dave Newton — Tue, 05 May 2009 05:11:22 +0000

OK, I’ve read the whole, endless article. You pays your money (or not — read it online for free), you takes your choice: (1) blow your top over the unflattering portrait of Mr. Sulzburger — never mind that (a) this is not a novel thing to do, and (b) the facts are unflattering — or (2) see this article as a comprehensive commentary on the dreadful state of all newspapers, and the price to be paid for sleeping through fundamental, universal change in information technology.

Sorry. I love the Times, but it’s going to have to reinvent its management process, or die. The truth hurts.