Shakeup at the New York Times
There's nothing quite so gratifying as watching news organizations descending on a hapless rival. First, the New York Times has the whole Jayson Blair fiasco, followed by Rick Bragg taking credit for work done by a freelance grunt in the field. I'm thinking there's a lot of hubris at the NYT. Whatever the case, they were a wounded gazelle on the serengeti, and the lion pride of rival media outlets were ripe for the kill. The first to be dragged down? Howell Raines and Gerald Boyd, the Times executive editor and managing editor, respectively.
I'll admit it; it's fun to watch. But, more than that, I think it's necessary from time to time for these media monoliths to suffer a shake-up of their own doing. I think they get complacent, resting on their established names and building a feeling of invulnerability. The Jayson Blairs of the world can flourish under that because fact-checking and reporter scrutiny just tends to take a backseat after awhile. Until something comes along to change that.
Now we'll see all sorts of media introspection, because if there's one thing news organizations can't stand, it's admitting that they're wrong. So, they're going to take steps to fix leaks in their boats, and I'm sure Raines and Boyd won't be the last casualties we see before this plays itself out.
Which is cool. Because there'll be some new job opening I can look into.
Posted by Ryan at June 5, 2003 01:08 PM
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