The New York Observer » New York Times http://www.observer.com Just another WordPress site Tue, 14 Feb 2012 21:24:36 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Virginia Heffernan Took a Times Buyout, Headed to Yahoo to be James Lipton The New York Times opinion writer Virginia Heffernan has taken a newsroom buyout, Politico reports. She's headed to Yahoo News, where she will write a weekly column about the intersection of technology and politics in the 2012 election and host a video interview series. "I want to talk to tech people, and new media Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2012/02/virginia-heffernan-took-a-times-buyout-headed-to-yahoo-to-be-james-lipton/ Musical Chairs at the Times Metro Desk The New York Times reporter formerly known as The Nocturnalist isn't the only one working a new beat in 2012.

Between Dominique Strauss-Kahn and the "rape cops," 2011 was a big year at the Manhattan State Supreme court. Courthouse reporter John Elgion, for one, is moving on, to Albany, where he will join the paper's statehouse team. Russ Buettner, author of the "Abused and Used" series, will succeed him on the failing-to-convict-creeps-beat. (Totally unrelated, we're looking forward to any Greg Kelly coverage!) Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2012/02/musical-chairs-at-the-times-metro-desk/ About That Weird Source Disclosure in the Times Cenedella Piece… Yesterday, The New York Times dropped a juicy political micro-scandal: Marc Cenedella, the deep-pocketed Republican activist expected to challenge Senator Kirsten Gillibrand in 2012, appears to have endorsed—if not written—a blog about, among other things, sex and drugs. Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2012/01/about-that-weird-source-disclosure-in-the-times-cenedella-piece/ New York Times Executive Editor Jill Abramson: Successfully Trolled by Ombudsman Along with quite a few other people, New York Times executive editor Jill Abramson has now been successfully trolled by Times Public Editor Arthur Brisbane, having dignified the paper's ombudsman tonight with a response after he incited a brouhaha of populist outrage with a poorly-worded column published earlier today. Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2012/01/brisbane-abramson-01122011/ Andrew Ross Sorkin and New York Times Dealbook Writers Plagued by Cloud of Meat Stench You would think: There you are, you've made it to the New York Times. You, with all of your hard-work, talent, and moxie have lead yourself to a place Gay Talese identified—in the title of his book on the place—as The Kingdom. And how majestic is it, this Renzo Piano building. Nothing can stop you now.

Except for the persistent smell of burning animal flesh beginning from the moment you get to work. Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2012/01/dealbook-meat-cloud-01122011/ Will Downton Abbey Do For Edwardian Lit What Twilight Did for YA Genre? Publishers and booksellers are trying to channel mania for PBS melodrama Downton Abbey into book sales for new Edwardian narratives like Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey and backlist classics like Parade’s End by Ford Madox Ford alike, the New York Times reports. Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2012/01/will-downtown-abbey-do-for-edwardian-lit-what-twilight-did-for-ya-genre/ New York Times Kansas City Bureau Chief Is Hungry When Arthur G. Sulzberger was named the Times Kansas City bureau chief, then-national editor Rick Berke worried about the vegetarian's dining options. "Arthur may be hard pressed to find vegetarian food amid all the barbecue joints, but he’ll have no trouble finding stories," Mr. Berke wrote in an internal memo. As it turns out, Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2012/01/new-york-times-kansas-city-bureau-chief-is-hungry/ Bey-Z’s Big Debut: Beyonce and Jay-Z’s Messianic Baby Makes NYC’s Front Pages, But Did They Bury The Lede? As Cindy Adams would say: Only in New York, kids. Only in New York. Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2012/01/jay-z-beyonce-baby-front-pages-01102011/ New York, LA Times Now Decides What Documentaries Nominated For Academy Awards Adding to the already long list of confusing and nonsensical plans for handing out the little statues from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, it was announced today that documentaries would be considered for Oscar nomination only if they had been reviewed in The New York Times or The LA Times beforehand.

This may not be as terribly insane as it seems. (Though it does seem pretty random, not to mention biased: giving an outside organization the power to wield a nomination verdict conclusively is actually unheard of.) Despite the rise of DIY film making and festival showcases, it's true that both Times do an admirable job reviewing most documentaries of note--one could make an argument that The New York Times actually skews towards the more esoteric form of film-making because traditionally documentaries have been considered "high-brow" films.

So this shouldn't be a problem, right?
Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2012/01/academy-awards-documentaries-new-york-times-la-times/ David Kelly Named Deputy Editor of Times Book Review David Kelly, an editor at The New York Times book review, has been promoted to the position of deputy editor. Bob Harris, a 29-year veteran of The New York Times and the most recent deputy editor of the book review,  left the newspaper in mid-December. Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2012/01/david-kelly-named-deputy-editor-of-times-book-review/ New York Times’ City Blog Puts Out Most Commented Post List; All Entries About Occupy Wall Street Or Weiners As we tend to do during the holiday season, The New York Times' City Room blog is in intra-aggregation mode: posting about their own posts over the 2011 year as both a  in remembrance" sort of thing, as well as a quick and easy way to make filler content new and exciting.

Though the technique of link-baiting back to the most popular (or the most commented) posts of the 2011 does serve a purpose, as we can quickly identify the major trends that had all the crazy people coming out of the woodwork to speak their mind.

Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2011/12/new-york-times-city-blog-puts-out-most-commented-post-list-all-entries-about-occupy-wall-street-or-weiners/ A Brony Correction in The New York Times While the New York Times Guild battles company chairman Arthur Sulzberger, Jr. over frozen pensions, Times reporters are putting their copy where their mouths are, producing conversation-starting stories despite tighter resources.

Sure, there’s the occasional first-person cat training memoir, but there are also blockbusters like Amy Harmon’s “Navigating Love and Autism,” an intimate portrait of Jack and Kirsten, two college students on the Autism spectrum in love. Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2011/12/a-brony-correction-in-the-new-york-times/ The Times Selling Regional Media Group for $143 M. The New York Times has announced that it will sell its Regional Media Group to Florida-based Halifax Media Holdings, LLC for $143 million in cash. The Regional Media Group consists of 16 regional newspapers including titles like the News Chief of Winter Haven, Florida and Thibodaux, Louisiana's Daily Comet. The back-of-the-envelope math suggests that each paper is worth just shy of $9 million apiece, or about two years of consulting work from outgoing Times CEO Janet Robinson. Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2011/12/the-times-selling-regional-media-group-for-143-m/ Gray Days: Three More Revealed from Latest Round of New York Times Buyouts THE VETS ARE OPTING OUT. Yesterday, The Observer reported on eight New York Times veterans who've taken voluntary buyouts from the paper—including Metro columnist Clyde Haberman and T Magazine executive editor Andy Port—initiated by an October memo from editorial brass to the newsroom. News of who took the buyouts were announced via a series of internal tributes from the contemporaries of those leaving the paper.

Later in the day, three more buyouts emerged: two—including celebrated business reporter Diana B. Henriques—had been reported over the weekend, and the other quietly announced on Twitter.

This afternoon, The Observer has received word of another name to add to the list: Alan Finder, a 28-year veteran of the paper. Mr. Finder's professional history and pedigree as a journalist and editor are typical of many of those who have taken the paper up on the most recent round of buyouts: extensive, and deeply rooted in the paper's legacy. Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2011/12/new-york-times-2011-buyouts-12202011/ More NYT Buyouts: Diana B. Henriques, Eric Dash, Bob Harris, and The Reporter Who Didn’t Get One IN MID-OCTOBER, a memo was sent out to all New York Times editorial staffers, from recently-installed Times executive editor Jill Abramson, managing editor Dean Baquet, and managing editor for news operations John M. Geddes: plans to reducing the newsroom with a series of voluntary buyout packages were underway, with Ms. Abramson's projected count at "fewer than 20."

Over the last week, news of eight buyouts—including veteran columnists Clyde Haberman and George Vecsey, as well as T Magazine's executive editor Andy Port—and tributes to the respectively retired Timespeople were circulated internally, a cache of which we posted earlier. There are two three that we missed, and one that we didn't (but could've). UPDATED. Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2011/12/nyt-buyouts-2011-diana-henriques-eric-dash-12192011/