This Should Be Good

Like many large organizations, the New York Times has an "ombudsman," the fellow to whom customers are supposed to complain about the product. Of course, since the Times isn't really a business -- but instead constitutes a religious calling with Constitutional overtones -- it has a "Public Editor."

[Would it be mere snarky-ness to ask whether or not all the editors a the Times don't think they are doing the public's business? Are they "private" editors, devoted to a not-so-secret agenda? Hmmmmm . . .]

And now they have a new one:

The New York Times today named its next public editor, Clark Hoyt, a former Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and editor who oversaw the Knight Ridder newspaper chain’s coverage that questioned the Bush administration’s case for the Iraq war.

[snip]

Mr. Hoyt said that he could not predict what subjects he might focus on. “They are likely to be driven by what readers care about and complain about,” he said.

But over the last year, he has spoken publicly about his concerns about the future of the newspaper industry, arguing that weakening finances, a toxic partisan atmosphere and coziness with government officials threaten to undermine journalistic courage and integrity.

Yes, well: Certainly we can all agree that the primary problem with reporting in the New York Times can be traced to excessive "coziness" with Bush Administration officials. Fix that, and there's no telling where it might lead. And clearly the hiring of a person whose most important qualification is early infection with Bush Derangement Syndrome won't do anything to contribute to "a toxic partisan atmosphere." Nosiree.