Great reporting. Could have used more context for readers not familiar with the position and why this is important (i.e. The Times setting news standards and agenda for much for the country's press corp).

A fairly balanced story concerning the performance and the future of the Public Editor position at the New York Times. Not a review "in-depth" but informative.

I believe it was Oscar Wilde who said that "adoption is the height of laziness." In like vein, this desultory reporting interviews two people, one at the Times, one no longer at the Times, and some people at the Times who don't want to be quoted. The one thing that separates this from after hours shop talk across the street at Sardi's bar, is that there are so many readers, who, of course, remember the Jason Blair affair, where a reporter decided to use poetic license in his prose, instead of applying shoeleather (Jimmy Breslin-style) to the craft of reporting. This eminently dull story is remarkable, given the near calamity imposed on international news reporting by the death of hundreds of journalists by IEDs and the like, ... More »

The issue of having not only a "public editor," but an effective one as well, is a large one for the New York Times. Battered by its own internal problems and outside criticism, the venerable "Grey Lady" is obviously in a transition as old and new media find their niches and relationships. The Observer's article aptly picks up on the possiblity that the editorial slot may not continue, or may be re-staffed, but it does not fully explore the depth and meaning of the position and its power, or lack thereof. Although I rated the story highly on information, fairness, sourcing, and "big picture," the article itself actually is more of a postcard than a story. I hope that they expand on this topic at a later date--and that the Times ... More »

This story provides yet more evidence that the NY Times is no longer the "paper of record" so much as an increasingly irrelevant dinosaur whose tail has trouble communicating with its head.

Do people still read The New York Times?