Clark Hoyt papers, 2009 - 2012

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Series II: Public Editor's Journal Folder



Box 21 Folder 9 The Public Editor's Journal: "They Aren't on the Take", 06/26/2007

(An exchange between Editorial Page Andy Rosenthal and a reader wanting to know if two Op-Ed columnists are receiving payments from outside sources)


Box 21 Folder 9 The Public Editor's Journal: "Did The Times Betray Harry Potter Fans?", 07/19/2007

(Readers are outraged by a review of the final book in the Harry Potter series, published before the novel's official release date. But the review contained no spoilers, and there was no contract between The Times and the Harry Potter publisher regarding when the book could be reviewed)


Box 21 Folder 9 The Public Editor's Journal: "A Question of Honorifics", 07/25/2007

(A reader wonders why I do not use honorifics in my column. The Public Editor is not bound by Times style, and the paper is an outlier on the use of Mr., Dr., Mrs., Ms., etc. In my 40-year-career, I never used them after first reference. It's too late to start now)


Box 21 Folder 9 The Public Editor's Journal: "Tiptoeing Around the Family Business", 07/30/2007

(An overflow of letters from readers)


Box 21 Folder 9 "Two Home Teams, One Front Page", 08/28/2007

(A reader asks why the New York Yankees get more coverage in the sports pages than the New York Mets. This post publishes the sports editor's response in full. Basically, the Yankees for a brand known worldwide with a long history and colorful present. The Mets have a smaller fan base and are just more bland)


Box 21 Folder 9 The Public Editor's Journal: "Letters: Iraq Numbers", 10/27/2007


Box 21 Folder 9 The Public Editor's Journal: "Books for the Ages, if Not for the Best-Seller List." , 10/28/2007


Box 21 Folder 9 The Public Editor's Journal: The Readers Speak , 12/22/2007


Box 21 Folder 9 The Public Editor's Journal: Letters" The Readers Speak, 02/02/2008


Box 21 Folder 9 The Public Editor's Journal: Mercury in Fish: Two Views, 02/16/2008


Box 21 Folder 9 The Public Editor's Journal: Letters: Readers Speak, 03/01/2008


Box 21 Folder 9 The Public Editor's Journal: Letters: The Readers Speak, 03/29/2008


Box 21 Folder 9 The Public Editor's Journal: Letters: The Readers Speak, 04/26/2008


Box 21 Folder 9 The Public Editor's Journal: Letters: The Readers Speak, 05/24/2008


Box 21 Folder 9 The Public Editor's Journal: Letters: Anonymous Sources and the Apostate Column , 06/27/2008


Box 21 Folder 9 The Public Editor's Journal: Letters: Pantsuits and the Presidency , 06/27/2008


Box 21 Folder 9 The Public Editor's Journal: "Obama, McCain and the Op- Ed Page", 07/23/2008

(The Times publishes an Op-Ed piece by Barack Obama, spelling out his plan for Iraq. John McCain submits his own column on the subject — a direct response to Obama — and The Times demands a total rewrite, so that McCain would be laying out his own plan, not attacking his opponent. Instead of being rewritten, the McCain draft is leaked to Drudge, and "The Liberal New York Times" takes a beating. It's an unforced error by The Times)


Box 21 Folder 9 The Public Editor's Journal: Intelligence Official Takes Exception, 07/24/2008

(A top CIA official takes exception to a Public Editor column about The Times's decision to name the interrogator of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed)


Box 21 Folder 9 The Public Editor's Journal: Letters: Potty Mouths, Weighing the Risk, and the Banking Industry, 07/26/2008


Box 21 Folder 9 The Public Editor's Journal: Letters: Hatfill, The Edwards Affair and the Painful Images of War, 08/23/2008


Box 21 Folder 9 The Public Editor's Journal: Letters: Making it Airtight, Formalities and Scrutiny, 09/27/2008


Box 21 Folder 9 The Public Editor's Journal: "Article Comparison: Obama/ Biden Vs. McCain/Palin", 10/03/2008

(Has The Times been tougher on John McCain and Sarah Palin than it has been on Barack Obama and Joe Biden? The Public Editor assembles all the enterprise/investigative coverage on both tickets and invites readers to make up their minds)


Box 21 Folder 9 The Public Editor's Journal: Letters: "Bias, Issues and Scorekeeping." , 10/25/2008


Box 21 Folder 9 The Public Editor's Journal: Letters: Corpus Christi and Facebook, 11/22/2008


Box 21 Folder 9 The Public Editor's Journal: Letters: New/Analysis Blur, Privilege and Terrorism , 12/20/2008


Box 21 Folder 9 The Public Editor's Journal: "The Times, President Bush and the Financial Crisis", 12/23/2008

(The White House and some readers react angrily to a Times article examining President Bush's role in helping to inflate the housing bubble that finally burst. They claim the paper is putting all the blame on Bush. But the piece was the 16th part of a deeply reported series delving into all the varied causes of the crisis, involving Republicans, Democrats, regulators, Wall Street financiers and the Federal Reserve, among others)


Box 21 Folder 9 The Public Editor's Journal: Comment to the Public Editor, 01/23/2009


Box 21 Folder 9 The Public Editor's Journal: Letters: Gaza Coverage and Leaps of Faith, 01/31/2009


Box 21 Folder 9 The Public Editor's Journal: Letters: Real Time Reporting and Nixon Tapes.


Box 21 Folder 9 The Public Editor's Journal: Letters: Economic Crisis and Anonymous Sources. Letters from readers on recent columns, 04/04/2009


Box 21 Folder 9 The Public Editor's Journal: Letters: Torture, Style and Merkin, 05/02/2009


Box 21 Folder 9 The Public Editor's Journal: Letters: Ethics, Acorn and The Globe, 05/29/2009


Box 21 Folder 9 The Public Editor's Journal: A Last Word on The Acorn Matter, 05/30/2009

(Bill O'Reilly, on Fox, accuses the Public Editor of a "blatant lie." It is O'Reilly who is putting out false information on The Times and an Acorn story)


Box 21 Folder 9 The Public Editor's Journal: Letters: Skepticism and a Price Increase, 06/27/2009


Box 21 Folder 9 The Public Editor's Journal: "A Dramatic Photo: Was It Real?" , 07/21/2009

(A front page article on the dangers of distracted driving is illustrated with the dramatic photo of a teen in the driver's seat texting with both hands while a passenger holds the steering wheels and the speedometer says 60 mph. Readers wonder is the picture was real or possibly staged. It was real, shot a year earlier for a different story, and The Times should have explained the circumstances in the article)


Box 21 Folder 9 The Public Editor's Journal: Letters: Wedding Announcements , 07/25/2009


Box 21 Folder 9 The Public Editor's Journal: Letters: Insults Steroids and Walter Cronkite, 08/29/2009


Box 21 Folder 9 The Public Editor's Journal: Letters: "He Works for The Times, Too" , 09/29/2009


Box 21 Folder 9 The Public Editor's Journal: The Acorn Letters, 10/03/2009

(The longer versions of reader letters referenced in a follow-up column on Times coverage of Acorn)


Box 21 Folder 9 The Public Editor's Journal: Letters: Fairness and the Health Care Sprawl, 10/24/2009


Box 21 Folder 9 The Public Editor's Journal: "Is The Times Ignoring the Boxing Ring?", 10/28/2009

(An exchange of letters between Larry Merchant, a boxing commentator on HBO, and Times sports editor Tom Jolly on the papers coverage, or relative lack thereof, of boxing)


Box 21 Folder 9 The Public Editor's Journal: Letters: Freelancers and Climate Change, 01/09/2010


Box 21 Folder 9 The Public Editor's Journal: "The Olympics? Don't Tell Me" , 02/17/2010

(Readers complain when The Times posts Olympics results on its web page before they are shown on NBC's tape-delayed TV coverage. Should the paper wait until fans can see the action before reporting on it? The answer is no)


Box 21 Folder 9 The Public Editor's Journal: Letters: "Too Close to Home" and "Someone Else's Rumor", 02/20/2010

(Additional letters posted on the Public Editor's Blog)


Box 21 Folder 9 The Public Editor's Journal: "The Patterson Bombshell" , 02/25/2010

(It turned out to be a "bombshell" after all, just not what was being rumored. Instead, Gov. Patterson's closest confidant was accused of violently assault a woman. Patterson ends his re-election campaign)


Box 21 Folder 9 The Public Editor's Journal: Letters: Acorn Revisited, Political Labels and Plagiarism, 03/27/2010


Box 21 Folder 9 The Public Editor's Journal: "Dueling Columnists", 04/15/2010

(Bloggers have a field day when two Times columnists, Paul Krugman and Andrew Ross Sorkin, get into a dispute, with Krugman demanding an apology for Sorkin's claim that he favored nationalizing the entire banking system. The Times owes its readers a clarification)


Box 21 Folder 9 The Public Editor's Journal: "Anonymous Sources Postscript", 04/17/2010

(More complaints from readers about the use of anonymous sources in news stories)


Box 21 Folder 9 The Public Editor's Journal: Letters: The Pope, Anonymous Sources and More, 05/02/2010


Box 21 Folder 9 The Public Editor's Journal: Letters: Hank Jones, Richard Blumenthal and Semantics, 06/05/2010