Tomgram: Andrew Bacevich, A Memo to the Publisher of the New York Times | TomDispatch

Tomgram: Andrew Bacevich, A Memo to the Publisher of the New York Times | TomDispatch: null

On Seeing America’s Wars Whole
Six Questions for A.G. Sulzberger
By Andrew J. Bacevich


March 20, 2018


Dear Mr. Sulzberger:


Congratulations on assuming the reins
of this nation’s -- and arguably, the world’s -- most influential
publication. It’s the family business, of course, so your appointment to
succeed your father doesn’t exactly qualify as a surprise. Even so, the
responsibility for guiding the fortunes of a great institution must
weigh heavily on you, especially when the media landscape is changing so
rapidly and radically.


Undoubtedly, you’re already getting plenty of advice on how to run
the paper, probably more than you want or need. Still, with your
indulgence, I’d like to offer an outsider’s perspective on “the news
that’s fit to print.” The famous motto of the Times insists
that the paper is committed to publishing “all” such news -- an
admirable aspiration even if an impossibility. In practice, what readers
like me get on a daily basis is “all the news that Times editors deem worthy of print.”


Of course, within that somewhat more restrictive universe of news,
not all stories are equal.  Some appear on the front page above the
fold.  Others are consigned to page A17 on Saturday morning.


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