Knicks Reporters, Meet Donnie Walsh, The Man Who Will Protect You From Jim Dolan

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By John Koblin

April 2, 2008 | 3:31 p.m

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Today, Donnie Walsh was named the new president of the New York Knicks, which means for the MSG beat reporters who cover the team, the place might feel a little less like hell.

The Times' Howard Beck--who told the Observer in November that covering the Knicks was a "miserable" assignment--just published a story on Mr. Walsh's hiring, and tells us what it means for his cohort:

In a major concession, Dolan also granted Walsh the authority to rewrite the Garden’s highly restrictive policies on speaking with the news media. Walsh who long styled himself as an accessible, media-friendly executive, insisted on retaining that freedom before accepting the job, the person said. The Garden has generally disallowed any employee — from team executives to coaches, players and staff members — from speaking to reporters without permission or, often, without a public-relations person present.

No doubt, Mr. Beck must be somewhat more than pleased about the power play away from Dolan. Back in November, Beck told us:

“Everyone is so worried about upsetting Jim Dolan, or getting fired, and as a result people aren’t themselves,” said Mr. Beck. “If you transplanted the same individuals and put them in another city, then they’d be far more interesting. They’d be themselves.”