NY Observer > Clark Hoyt

Nicholas Kristof Is Sorry

Matt Haber — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 11:29:24 -0400

In his column today, The New York Times Op-Ed columnist offers a corrective to his 2002 columns implying that Dr. Steven J. Hatfill (whom Mr. Kristof sometimes referred to as "Mr. Z" in his columns) was connected to the still-unsolved anthrax attacks media and government figures following the 9/11.

In his Public Editor column on August 16th, Clark Hoyt wrote that Mr. Kristof "plans to write a column looking back on the case and apologizing to Hatfill for any 'extra scrutiny and upheaval the columns brought to him, and wrestling with the journalistic issues involved.'"

Here's what Mr. Kristof wrote today:

So, first, I owe an apology to Dr. read more »

Times Public Editor Not Allergic to 'Nuts'

Matt Haber — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 11:04:30 -0400

Not just anyone can get 'nuts' into the pages of The New York Times. While reporters covering Jesse Jackson's open mic gaffe had to dance around his phrase "I wanna cut his nuts off," Public Editor Clark Hoyt got a special pass to quote him in full in a column about crude speech in the paper.

After running through which publications used the dreaded word and which didn't, Mr. Hoyt wrote:

Paul Winfield, news editor at The Times, said he and Chuck Strum, an associate managing editor, made the call to, effectively, bleep Jackson’s comments. Winfield said the remark about talking down to black people was what seemed newsworthy to him, while the vulgarity did not seem important enough to make an exception to stringent Times standards. read more »

Clark Hoyt Says His Column 'Was Not a Message' For Times Columnists to 'Tone it Down'

John Koblin — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 08:15:28 -0400

On June 22, the Times public editor Clark Hoyt had a few words for the Times’ Maureen Dowd for several primary-season columns that disparaged Hillary Clinton. "Even [Ms. Dowd], I think, by assailing Clinton in gender-heavy terms in column after column, went over the top this election season."

So two days ago, current Op-Ed columnist (and former editorial page editor) Gail Collins wrote into Mr. Hoyt’s reader's response column to respond: "When the public editor laces into an opinion page columnist for making fun of a controversial political figure, it sounds like a suggestion that all of us tone things down. I hope I’m hearing wrong. read more »

Why Did Wiesel's Night Fall Off the Bestseller List? Times Mulls New "Classics" Category

Leon Neyfakh — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 10:07:15 -0400

Public Editor Clark Hoyt wrote his column this weekend about the Times Bestseller List. What does it do and how does it work, he wanted to know; also, why was Elie Wiesel's Night retired from the list last month despite the fact that it was still selling well enough to chart at number nine on the paperbacks list the week before?