Rick Berke
Nagourney Calls Robertson's Rudy Endorsement 'A Stunt'
Last night in the New York Times building, before a crowd of over 300, five members of the Times political team -- assistant managing editor Rick Berke, chief political reporter Adam Nagourney, online political editor Kate Phillips, and reporters Patrick Healy and Jodi Kantor -- held a surprisingly frank conversation about the 2008 presidential campaign and the relationship between the reporters and the candidates.
At the beginning of the presentation, Mr. Nagourney discussed the recent endorsement of Rudy Giuliani by Pat Robertson as "freaky," "weird" and "a stunt." He also echoed a widespread criticism of Republican candidate Fred Thompson, saying "I really think he's just not that into it."
At one point, Times assistant managing editor Rick Berke asked reporter Patrick Healy, who covers Hillary Clinton, whether the New York senator has forgiven him for the notorious A1 exegesis of the Clinton marriage he wrote last year. "No," Mr. Healy replied. read more »
NYT's Keller Moves Up Page 1 Meeting
Full memo after the jump. read more »
Times Washington Editor Phillips Out
Bureau chief Phil Taubman is scheduled to hold a brown-bag lunch meeting today to address the staff about Phillips' departure.
"There's a lot of confusion about what happened," a bureau member said. "People are upset."
Phillips was appointed to the position in October 2004, replacing Rick Berke, who moved to New York to become an associate managing editor. Bureau sources said that Phillips had clashed with Taubman in recent months. read more »
According to bureau sources, the Times is seeking to reorganize the bureau, which has taken heat from New York in recent months for falling behind on stories such as the Washington Post's expose of "black sites" where the United States keeps detainees abroad.
--Gabriel Sherman
