The New York Times’s Public Editor: Criticism Is Okay!
The New York Times announced today that its new public editor will for the first time be a woman. Margaret Sullivan, the editor of the Buffalo News, will take over for Arthur S. Brisbane. Part of the problem with the way the job is conceived can be seen in Sullivan’s statement to the press, in which she says that she sees the position as offering, “a chance to listen to readers, to respond, to learn and to write, always thoughtfully and also in real time.” The trouble here is with the obsessive focus on readers and their opinions. The New York Times is a huge—and hugely important—institution. Readers are constantly finding fault with it, often for good reasons, but also often for not-so-good reasons. What is a needed is a journalist or other intelligent commentator who will attack the paper’s flaws with a singular perspective, and even with a dose of wit and fun. Instead, the paper has given over precious op-ed page real estate to people like Brisbane, who devote entire columns to letters from readers, and who frequently spend a good deal of time dealing with silly complaints.