Dowd and Friedman Demoted at NYT
The New York Times has removed Thomas Friedman and Maureen Dowd from their Sunday editions, relegating them to less visible days.
‘N.Y. Times’ Unveils Expanded Opinion Section (Editor and Publisher)
As promised, The New York Times unveiled its expanded Sunday Op-Ed section, a move set in motion at least partly by the decision to move the lengthy Frank Rich contributions back to this section, from Arts & Leisure.
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The paper has also shuffled columnists, with longtime Sunday favorites Maureen Dowd and Thomas L. Friedman exiting this space to other days. The regulars on Sunday, as announced today by Gail Collins, the editorial page editor, will be Rich, Nicholas Kristof, and David Brooks. The paper printed a box with the new schedule, which places Dowd on Wednesdays and Saturdays, with Friedman on Wednesdays and Fridays. John Tierney, who replaces William Safire, will appear on Tuesdays and Saturdays.
The Sunday edition is, by far, the most read of any paper so this is a big deal.
Dowd has become unreadable, so getting her out of the Sunday edition is welcome news. Certainly, David Brooks is a huge upgrade. The rest of the changes are uninspiring, though. Friedman has become rather predictable but he still offers interesting insights on a regular basis. Rich and Kristoff are solid writers but it’s hard to recall and noteworthy pieces by either.
Kristoff’s Sunday debut, “Let Fathers Be Fathers,” is pedestrian at best. Rich’s “A Culture of Death, Not Life” is actually rather interesting, if a bit hyperbolic. Neither, though, is a Mark Steyn, Christopher Hitchens, or Michael Kinsley.
via Michelle Malkin
I dislike them all.
I’ve been trying to make heads or tails out of the attempts that some have been making to characterize this move as anything but a demotion. I mean when you move “I Love Lucy” to Saturday night it doesn’t mean you’re trying to beef up your Saturday lineup.
Maureen Dowd is not a serious columnist and Friedman has been running on fumes for years. I don’t believe “diversity” has been achieved, since the gamut is from Left Liberal to Republican Liberal. But then, NYTimes is not a serious national paper, either.
Praktike has the most cogent, coherent comment I have ever seen on a blog!
Miss Dowd is not afraid to take on Bush. Most others don’t have the balls. But then she probably doesn’t either.
The removal of Pulitzer Prize Winners Maureen Dowd, (especially), and Tom Friedman from the NYT Sunday Op Ed page is the worst mistake that the NYT “powers that be” have made in the 43 years I have been a constant reader.
Every Sunday morning I looked forward to seeing what Maureen had to say. I always read Ms. Dowd’s column before any other part of the Sunday edition. She never made that anticipation a disappointment.
Ms. Dowd is a brilliant writer. I often quote her, and send her columns to friends. She can be uproariously funny while skewering the fools who are doing their best to hasten the dimunition and degradation of this nation. I trust her opinions.
I used to read my local paper and The Boston Globe daily, and the NYT on Sundays and Thursdays, because Maureen’s column was something I always looked forward to. When she was on vacation Op Ed seemed diminished. I felt the same way about Mr. Friedman. I “missed” his column when he was on his recent sabbatical and was delighted when he returned.
Yesterday, the “New” Sunday Op Ed was god-awful. I was disappointed and depressed. It was bland and boring. I struggled through the dour and humorless replacements and every other section seemed ordinary ansd uninteresting. For the first time ever, I did not enjoy or learn anything from the Sunday Times. The “decision makers” deprived me of a relaxing and informative Sunday morning treat.
I will now read Wednesday, Friday and and Saturday Friedman and Dowd columns online or print them and save them for Sunday mornings.
I was in a funk all Sunday morning. Apparently I am ignorant of the intelligence of your “grand new design”.
I feel as if I have lost regular visits with interesting friends on the only day when I had the time to really “listen” to their opinions. Their columns often complemented, expanded or opposed each other. But they were never boring.
This decision has made me angry. It has greatly diminished my esteem for the NYT.
I might also add that the layout of Op Ed page was worse than any that my High School Newspaper editors’ “cut and paste jobs” of 35 years ago.
Suddenly I don’t like something that was one of the best parts of my busy weekly routine. I feel as if, “I wuz robbed”, bigtime!
I also noted that Thursday Styles will change. Will Sunday’s Styles go away? What’s next? The Magazine, The Book Review? Nothing “was broke”, so nobody fixed anything by making needless and annoying changes.
As NYT gets hacked up and I know that it shall be,(in the name of “progress and pursuit of excellence”), the opinion of one reader from New Hanpshire will mean very little. If these changes are the beginning of a trend, perhaps I will give up my once favorite newspaper. What’s left? The International Herald Tribune? They don’t “delivah that, up heah”.
So from now on, my Sunday headline reads, Gray Lady Down, Way Down. How terribly sad!
What is this site? The online home of propaganda victims?