By Kara Bloomgarden-Smoke 6/18 5:40pm

The New York Times

Michael Cooper (Photo via Twitter).

Michael Cooper Moves to The Times Culture Desk

Michael Cooper will move over to the culture desk, The New York Times culture editor Danielle Mattoon announced this afternoon. Mr. Cooper, who was covering urban affairs as a national correspondent for the paper, will begin covering classical music and dance in August.

“For those of you who don’t know him, we are all in for a treat,” Times culture editor Danielle Mattoon wrote in an announcement that went out this afternoon. “Walk around the newsroom and start asking people to give you a few examples of great work from Michael and the response tends to be some version of: ‘How much time do you have?’” Read More

By Peter Sterne 6/06 5:21pm

Published Proposals

how-we-decide

The Times Got Jonah Lehrer’s Book Proposal, But Won’t Tell Andrew Wylie Where

Jonah Lehrer, the New Yorker reporter who was fired after an an investigation revealed that he had plagiarized and fabricated quotes, is making a bid for a second act. And unlike others before him (ahem, James Frey), it doesn’t sound like he is calling it fiction.

Just days after Slate reported that Mr. Lehrer was shopping around a new book, The New York Times obtained and reviewed the 65-page proposal entitled “A Book About Love.” Read More

By Kim Velsey 6/05 4:48pm

Exit Interview

Big Deal real estate columnist Alexei Barrionuevo is leaving T

A Big Deal Goodbye: Alexei Barrionuevo On His Decision To Leave The Times 

There are few things that The Observer loves reading about more than the lurid world of ultra high-end real estate. From Eastern European oligarchs buying $88 million dorm rooms for their daughters to billionaires butting heads over custom renovations to their mega-penthouses, real estate is a both a personal and a professional obsession. And during this past year, there are few reporters that we have enjoyed reading more than New York Times’s Alexei Barrionuevo, who has chronicled the ups and, well, the ups of the trophy market in his Big Deal column over the past 16 months.

So we were sad to hear that Mr. Barrionuevo will be leaving his column and The Times to work on a documentary series called Project Allegro. Read More

By Kim Velsey 5/31 6:27pm

Media Melee

One of the renderings. (H3 Hardy Collaboration Architects).

Architect’s Newspaper Editor Does Not Appreciate MAS Inviting Him To Presser On NYT Exclusive

The press release from a publicist trumpeting some scintillating (or often, not so scintillating) “news” that was broken hours earlier in a Wall Street Journal or New York Times exclusive—what journalist doesn’t hate that? Of course, such breathless communiqués hardly ever make mention of the fact that all of the information being “revealed” is already available in a rival publication and has, at that point, usually been blogged about by several other websites.

It’s a thorn in the side of every journalist—that is, every journalist who doesn’t work at the Journal or the Times—an indignity that is usually borne with under-the-breath invective, some grousing to one’s immediate neighbors and an occasional, pointed email to said publicist informing them that your publication would have been interested in covering this had the Journal not published a story on it hours earlier saying everything there was to say. Read More

By Kara Bloomgarden-Smoke 5/23 4:01pm

Hires

Jonathan Martin (Image via Politico).

Jonathan Martin Named Political Correspondent at The New York Times

POLITICO’s Jonathan Martin is going to The New York Times as to be their national political correspondent, Carolyn Ryan, the recently named political editor announced today in a newsroom memo. Mr. Martin, who was a senior political reporter at Politico, was one the site’s earliest hires.

POLITICO, for their part, wrote their own newsroom memo. which was obtained by FishbowlDC, where they tried to frame their loss as a positive and explained that, although Mr. Martin told them he was leaving for the Times today, they were not surprised by the news. Read More

By Kara Bloomgarden-Smoke 5/02 12:19pm

trend stories

Crossing Brooklyn Ferry. (Photo via NYC.gov).

How Much Did It Cost the Times to Make Henry Alford a Hipster?

“It costs a lot of money to look this cheap,” Dolly Parton famously said. Well, nowhere is that more true than in Hipster Brooklyn, a magical land that The New York Times seemingly “discovers” once every five weeks. In today’s Style section, the Times sent intrepid middle-aged Manhattanite reporter Henry Alford to Williamsburg to live like the locals do (which, coincidentally, is also the way one would live if one were living one’s life according to trend stories in the Times Style section).

So how much did Mr. Alford’s long weekend of living the artisanal life actually cost the newspaper, which confirmed that it covered Mr. Alford’s expenses but, citing policy, declined to share costs? Read More

By Drew Grant 5/02 8:35am

New York Times is Not on it

The New York Times wants you to look at the hipsters. (Joe Mande)

The New York Times Runs Out of Brooklyn Trends; Just Sending ‘Investigative Humorist’ to Mock Williamsburg Now

Ach, we really thought The New York Times was finally starting to get the picture with its April 28th piece, “Turning the Tables on the News Media Tease.” In it, Noam Cohen finally acknowledged the Twitter feed @NYTOnIt as being “prompted when a trend article from The New York Times seems too obvious or too generic.” Examples given in the article included “the arrival of fall, the use of staplers, and how night stands are becoming more crowded.”

Point duly noted, the Times seemed to be saying in this piece, showing that it was not above poking fun of its history of non-trend trend stories. But it turns out that the Grey Lady was merely blowing her media audience a raspberry, as Thursday’s Style section cover story is about…one man’s observations about Williamsburg. No, no catch, no angle: Just one guy, checking out the ‘burg to see what the big deal is and trying to blend in with the natives at Roberta’s. (Which still counts as Williamsburg, you know, metaphysically.) And yes, it’s supposed to be funny, which is probably the saddest part about this sad attempt that begins with–wait for it–the title: Read More

By Kara Bloomgarden-Smoke 4/30 6:19pm

off the record

Brian Stelter. (Photo via Facebook.)

Good Times, Bad Times: Brian Stelter Parties On Despite Negative Book Review

Last week was quite a whirlwind for New York Times media reporter Brian Stelter. Top of The Morning: Inside the Cutthroat World of Morning TV, his look at the world of morning television, hit shelves, and Mr. Stelter found himself in the potentially awkward situation of appearing as a guest on morning shows to talk about a book about morning shows.

At press time, Mr. Stelter had done around 20 media appearances, with more scheduled. He was on Morning Edition, Good Morning America, CBS This Morning, CNN’s Early Start, Entertainment Tonight and Inside Edition. Revelations were sprinkled throughout the tabloids and on the cover of Us Weekly, which featured a smiling photo of Ann Curry in a yellow cardigan, arms defiantly resting on her hips, with the headline “Stabbed in the Back: They called her ‘Big Bird’ and plotted to get rid of her. How Ann Curry’s coworkers tortured her and why she won’t forgive Matt Lauer.”  Read More

By Drew Grant 1:23pm

trend stories

Babies without diapers. (Getty Images)

The Best Reader Reactions to Times Trend Story on Diaperless Babies

The New York Times has a very good, very important story today about parents who don’t diaper their children and let them urinate/defecate wherever they want because of the environment, but also because it allows one to be in touch their child’s “elimination communications.” We’re trying to refrain from judgement, but shouldn’t parents be doing the communicating about where its appropriate to go pee-pee, since they know language and don’t have a soft spot on their skull?

This item was full of gems, most notably the ending:

Still, even the most ardent practitioners observe some limits. “I don’t think you can walk down Fifth Avenue and just let your baby poop on the sidewalk,” [some lady] said.

This essay has caused a veritable–excuse our punnery–shitstorm on the web that the Times‘ commenting section alone is worth the read. Here are just a choice few of our favorites. Read More