Hard News (38 page)

“When you run a desk”
Behr to author.

Gene Roberts, the retired editor
Eugene L. Roberts Jr. Curriculum vitae. Available at
www.journalism.umd.edu/faculty/groberts/cv.htm
.

since he retired
The Pulitzer Prizes. See
www.pulitzer.org/archive/archive.htm
.

“Joe didn’t use the masthead well”
Behr to author.

Lelyveld chose Bill Keller
“Times Appoints Managing Editor and 2 Deputies.”
The New York Times
. May 23, 1997. p. C1.

he wouldn’t turn sixty-six until
Gabriel Snyder. “Raines Succeeds Lelyveld at
Times
.”
The New York Observer
. May 28, 2001. p. 6.

The Making of an Editor

In 1964, after graduating
Auletta, “The Howell Doctrine.”

“He always had an air”
Ibid.

Raines left journalism
Ibid.

Raines was hired
Ibid.

“I was looking for”
Jones to author.

During Jones’s fourteen years
Ibid.

“Howell was a mentor to Arthur”
Rosenthal to author.

“making life harder”
Howell Raines.
Fly Fishing Through the Midlife Crisis
. Garden City, N.Y.: Anchor Books, 1994. p. 20.

“being piddled away, by me”
Ibid., p. 163.

“We are full of lust”
Ibid., p. 182.

“So here is where I came”
Ibid., p. 299.

Bill Kovach, disappointed
Auletta, “The Howell Doctrine.”

Craig Whitney, Kovach’s replacement
Ibid.

“He was a damn good”
Behr to author.

autocratic to the point of ridiculousness
Tifft and Jones,
The Trust
, p. 672.

“He could be very combative”
Behr to author.

Raines’s winning article
Howell Raines. “Grady’s Gift.”
The New York Times Magazine
. December 1, 1991.

took over as the editorial-page editor
“The Times Appoints Three Editors to Major Posts.”
The New York Times
. September 12, 1992. Section 1, p. 9.

“While we were still in transition”
Rosenthal to author.

“On the job training”
“Reading Mr. Clinton’s Lips.” Editorial.
The New York Times
. January 28, 1993. p. A20.

“Dobermans”
“Hold Off the Republican Dobermans.” Editorial.
The New York Times
. January 30, 1993. p. A20.

“intellectual cupboard”
“Mr. Clinton’s Captious Critics.” Editorial.
The New York Times
. February 23, 1993. p. A20.

“Does he really care”
“Mr. Clinton, Meet Mr. Gore.” Editorial.
The New York Times
. April 20, 1993. p. A28.

“mere assertion with real accomplishment”
“A Dawn of Promise.” Editorial.
The New York Times
. January 21, 1993. p. A24.

“traditional high road for the gutter”
Howard Kurtz. “Talking Tough at The Times: Howell Raines’s Editorials Don’t Finesse with Politesse.”
The Washington Post
. May 10, 1993. p. B1.

“new chief pontificator”
Ibid.

“Howell on the Prowl”
Howard Kurtz. “The Gray Lady’s Colorful Chief: New Executive Editor Howell Raines Elicits Strong Opinions.”
The Washington Post
. September 6, 2001. p. C1.

“When you spend a lot of paragraphs”
Kurtz, “Talking Tough at The Times.”

“We sound like the
New York Post” Paul Starobin. “Raines’s Reign: Thunder from the Times.”
National Journal
. April 24, 1993. p. 990.

“did rattle the china”
Frankel,
The Times of My Life
, p. 392.

“I didn’t want us to undermine”
Timothy Noah. “The Deadly Dozen.”
George
. May 1999.

“He tended to lecture”
Author interview.

“He made that editorial page so exciting”
Collins to author.

“routinely attempt to hide simpleminded”
Timothy Noah. “Howell Agonistes.” Available at
www.slate.com/id/1000276
. December 17, 1998.

“Raines would do well”
Michael Tomasky. “His Terrible, Swift Sword.”
The Nation
. January 4, 1999.

“To me, it seemed”
Author interview.

“That was a stormy time”
Author interview.

Privately, Raines himself joked
Author interviews.

“
[
Campaign finance
]
is the most boring”
Collins to author.

headlines were similar to the point
Editorials from
The New York Times
, in order of list: July 30, 2001, p. A16; July 20, 2001, p. A20; July 3, 2001, p. A16; March 27, 2001, p. A22; April 3, 2001, p. A18; June 25, 2001, p. A16; March 22, 2001, p. A26.

“He would not stop”
Collins to author.

Robert McNamara’s 1995 memoir
Robert S. McNamara and Brian VanDeMark (contributor).
In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of the Vietnam War
. New York: Crown Publishers, 1995.

“Comes now Robert McNamara”
“Mr. McNamara’s War.” Editorial.
The New York Times
. April 12, 1995. p. A24.

“It was simply beating”
Noah, “The Deadly Dozen.”

Bob Semple, another
Times The Pulitzer Prizes. See
www.pulitzer.org/year/1996/editorial-writing
.

“Howell and I talk” Washington Journal.
Interview with Arthur Sulzberger Jr. and Howell Raines by Brian Lamb. C-SPAN1. Air date September 22, 1997, 6:00 p.m.

State of the
Times
talks
Noah, “The Deadly Dozen.”

The Competition

“I thought the paper”
Howell Raines. “My Times.”
The Atlantic
. May 2004.

broke a story
Raymond Bonner and Josh Barbanel. “Democrats Rue Ballot Foul-up in a 2nd County.”
The New York Times
. November 17, 2000. p. A1.

broke news about the controversial
David Barstow and Somini Sengupta. “Judge Who Rebuffed Gore Had Run-ins with Justices.”
The New York Times
. December 8, 2000. p. A1.

“our rivals up the road”
Jack Shafer. “The Scoopless
Washington Post
.” Available at
www.slate.com/id/1006703
. December 18, 2000.

“The period in which it became”
Keller to author.

“The ingrained management habit”
Raines, “My Times.”

In February 2001
The New York Times Company corporate website,
www.nytco.com/company-executives-jlrobinson.htm
.

“We had to create a new newspaper”
Sulzberger to author.

“Whether we liked it or not”
Raines, “My Times.”

“My wife sometimes refers to me”
Howard Kurtz. “Newsroom Favorite Bill Keller Named Times’ Top Editor.”
The Washington Post
. July 15, 2003. p. C1.

Raines is a dynamic and forceful
Baquet to author.

“Under Joe, I felt”
Siegal to author.

“There was a feeling”
Behr to author.

“Howell will continue”
“The New York Times Announces Howell Raines to Become Executive Editor.” Press Release, the New York Times Company. May 21, 2001.

“My first and foremost responsibility”
Robert D. McFadden. “Times Names Raines as Successor to Lelyveld as Executive Editor.”
The New York Times.
May 22, 2001. p. A1.

Under the heading of “I would like to see”
Seth Mnookin. “Bill Keller, Passed Over for Top Spot at New York Times, Has ‘Pig-in-Shit’ New Gig.” Inside.com. June 19, 2001.

“The first lesson of management”
Baquet to author.

The Deputy

“No more Mr. Gruff”
Seth Mnookin. “Gerald Boyd Named New York Times Managing Editor—First African-American in the Job.” Inside.com. June 26, 2001.

he helped found and edit
Jayson Blair. “Gerald.” In
Times Talk.
Internal Newsletter. September 2001.

“He was extremely aggressive”
David Carr and Janny Scott. “A Formidable Run Undone by Scandal and Discontent.”
The New York Times
. June 6, 2003. p. B8.

“Gerald is not your biggest”
Behr to author.

“He was very proud”
Sontag to author.

“Gerald really showed me a lot”
Sack to author.

According to people who worked for and with him
Author interviews.

“I wanted to see, as Arthur himself”
Raines, “My Times.”

sported an Afro
Blair, “Gerald.”

“There were just two minority reporters”
Harry Lewis. “NY Times Taps Gerald Boyd as Its New Managing Editor.”
St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
July 27, 2001. p. A1.

“I hope tomorrow, when some kid”
Susan Sachs. “Times Names Gerald Boyd as Its Next Managing Editor.”
The New York Times
. July 27, 2001. p. A13.

Race in the Newsroom

“the journalistic profession”
” ‘The Communications Media, Ironically, Have Failed to Communicate’: The Kerner Report Assesses Media Coverage of Riots and Race Relations.” History Matters: The U.S. Survey Course on the Web. Available at http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6553.

Ten years later, in 1978
Ted Pease. “Minority Job-seekers Don’t Fare as Well.”
The American Editor
. November 11, 1999. Available at
www.asne.org/kiosk/editor/99.oct-nov/pease1.htm
.

By 2003, that number had risen
Jennifer Barrios and April D. Bethea. “ ‘Snail-Pace’ Minority Gains Spur Concern.”
The ASNE Reporter
. April 20, 2004. Available at
www.asne.org/index.cfm?id=5173
.

Another theory—that there are
Lee B. Becker, Tudor Vlad, Jisu Huh, and Nancy R. Mace. “Annual Enrollment Report: Graduate and Undergraduate Enrollments Increase Sharply.”
Journalism & Mass Communication Educator
58, no. 3 (2003). Available at
www.grady.uga.edu/annualsurveys/Enrollment02/enroll02sum.htm
.

“The culture is such”
Wilkins to author.

A semiformalized effort
Frankel,
The Times of My Life
, p. 465.

He wrote in his memoir
Ibid., p. 468.

“There was a real problem” The Charlie Rose Show,
April 14, 1994.

“Joe was all for Arthur”
Tifft and Jones,
The Trust,
p. 686.

at the same time that Frankel
Frankel,
The Times of My Life
, p. 466.

a black reporter named Kenneth Noble
Author interviews.

“But Gerald went and visited Ken”
Mathews to author.

“Ken couldn’t hack it”
Author interview.

The Agenda

In August 2001
Author interviews.

Sack had been hired
Sack to author.

Raines’s staff was preparing
Author interviews.

“Her family is there”
Sack to author.

“We thought our metabolism”
Author interview.

“Please don’t make me relive”
Katy Roberts. “Re: New York Times Book Project.” E-mail message to author. December 8, 2003. 4:47 p.m.

A New Era

The flagging economy
Philip Shenon. “Bush and Daschle Agree Not to Tap Social Security.”
The New York Times.
September 5, 2001. p. A1. Also, Susan Saulny. “New Jobless Centers Offer More Than a Benefit Check.”
The New York Times.
September 5, 2001. p. A1.

In one of his first
Seth Mnookin. “Philosopher King Is Out at the New York Times, as Southern Pol Settles In.” Inside.com. September 5, 2001.

Raines lined the walls of his office
Auletta, “The Howell Doctrine.”

Raines also instituted a 10:30 a.m. meeting
Author interviews.

“I used to spend most”
Bradlee to author.

“indifference to competition”
Raines, “My Times.”

Howell Raines lives in
Auletta, “The Howell Doctrine.”

The New York Times
would dispatch
Ibid.

“There was the enormous stress”
Oreskes to author.

Raines met with investigative editor Stephen Engelberg
Engelberg to author.

“When you empower the desk editors”
Roberts to author.

“Where are these people going?”
Author interview.

“Early on”
Kramon to author.

Alex Berenson detailed how Enron
Alex Berenson. “Enron’s Collapse: Selling Energy; Ex-Workers Say Unit’s Earnings Were ‘Illusory.’ ”
The New York Times
. January 25, 2002. p. A1.

Kurt Eichenwald authored
Kurt Eichenwald with Diana B. Henriques. “Enron’s Many Strands: The Company Unravels; Enron Buffed Image to a Shine Even as It Rotted from Within.”
The New York Times
. February 10, 2002. p. A1.

The Washington Bureau

“We don’t know who’s going”
Abramson to author.

“Jill Abramson never expressed any frustration”
Patrick E. Tyler. “Re: New York Times Book Project.” E-mail message to author. June 4, 2004. 6:39 a.m.

“The issue of the heavy-handedness”
Auletta, “The Howell Doctrine.”

A Growing Mandate

“This story was so consuming” The Charlie Rose Show.
“New York Times Editor Howell Raines on 9/11 (Part I).” Interview with Howell Raines. PBS. Air date, August 6, 2002.

“I felt in the case of Kevin”
Abramson to author.

“I just thought that was awful”
Oreskes to author.

“He let Gerald carry all”
Sack to author.

San Francisco–based Evelyn Nieves
Seth Mnookin. “Hard Raines.”
New York
. February 18, 2002.

Raines had insisted Bragg be sent
Auletta, “The Howell Doctrine.”