Last week, newly appointed public editor Margaret Sullivan wrote about what she now calls “the insulting and profane Twitter messages” that Times freelancer Andrew Goldman tweeted at author Jennifer Weiner. Ms. Sullivan ended the post by calling for a clear social media policy at the paper of record.
Looks like they are now clearing it up. It is actually fairly simple: don’t be a jerk to readers. Read More
Now that Arthur Brisbane is no longer holding The New York Times accountable as the public editor, he is publicly looking back at his two year tenure at the paper of record. Mr. Brisbane served as the fourth ombudsman — the readers’ representative — a position created in the wake of the 2003 Jayson Blair plagiarism scandal.
In an interview with Craig Silverman at Poynter two days after his time at the Times came to an end, Mr. Brisbane spoke about his experience.
“I’m trying to decompress,” Mr. Brisbane told “Yesterday and today are the first two working days that I haven’t had to worry about the e-mail queue and what’s coming in and what’s in the paper, and you know what? I am enjoying it.”
Mr. Brisbane expects to be remembered for his “infamous” truth vigilante post, where Mr. Brisbane questioned whether it’s a reporter’s job to challenge statements presented as facts by sources rather than just reporting it – especially by politicians during an election season. The post got a lot of attention, which came as a bit of a surprise to Mr. Brisbane.
“For better or worse, it’s probably the goddamn fact checking thing,” he said. Read More
New York Times executive editor Jill Abramson announced Monday that Margaret M. Sullivan, editor and vice president of The Buffalo News, will replace Arthur Brisbane as the paper’s public editor.
Speaking on the phone from Buffalo Monday afternoon, Ms. Sullivan told Off The Record that she had lusted after the gig for years.
“Now that there’s going to be much more of a digital job,” she said, “it’s a very good fit for me.”
She described the Times search as broad and the vetting process as lengthy and thorough.
“It was not a slam dunk,” she admitted. Read More
“Well, you’re here. You must be dumber than you look.” New York Times public editor Clark Hoyt remembered hearing these words from publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. on his first day.
In his last column over the weekend, Mr. Hoyt also remembered one highlight from his interactions with Bill Keller.
Bill Keller, the executive Read More
