Turns out New York Times Executive Editor Bill Keller didn’t much enjoy the treatment he and his paper received at the hands of The Daily Show last month. As he said in response to a question from a Time magazine reader:
Well, that’s the last time I try to be a good sport. Even my wife told me that I looked faintly ridiculous, and she was trying to make me feel better. Among the people who would miss us most would be the wise-guy pundits and scriptwriters for satirical TV shows, because they riff on the news we produce.
Keller’s peevishness is understandable; one of the points of The Daily Show’s satire, after all, is to chide the press into doing a better job, and the Times, for all its faults, remains one of the best news organizations around. Still, it would be nice to see legacy institutions like the Times drop some of the condescension that tends to infect their view of the rabble-rousers in the digital and electronic media–some of which, after all, also do some real reporting of their own.
Yeah, but, the Times really got trounced in this piece. I am a HUGE Daily Show fan. And his jibes at the media are spot on. But this piece went a bit too far in making fun of the Times for still using land-line telephones and pencils. Never once did the comedian/correspondent admit even for a second that despite the fact that paper brings you "yesterdays news today," that its reporting is first-rate or that the Daily Show producers, editors, writers and "correspondents" read it, too — for material on the news the make fun of. It was a bit of an unwarranted slam, because they didn't even bring up the plans for the Times charging for its content, so there was no news peg. That segment was the ONE and only time I can remember going, yeah, that wasn't funny or even relevant. It was more like, let's make fun of the Times today because we don't have anything else.
#1 Posted by Sharon, CJR on Fri 10 Jul 2009 at 03:15 PM
The Observer had a little piece what ended up on the cutting room floor.
http://www.observer.com/2009/media/times-staffers-get-cut%E2%80%94-daily-show-segment
Satire is now an editor's medium (see also, Sacha Baron Cohen's career in making all of America look like Mississippi Burning).
#2 Posted by D.R. Foster, CJR on Fri 10 Jul 2009 at 03:56 PM
It was pretty funny. Any educated person can see through the sarcasm. As for me it actually made me appreciate the simplicity of a newspaper. I subscribed to my local newspaper the very same week.
Mr. Keller should lighten up and take into account that the segment was probably good publicity for the paper. Sometimes poking fun at something is the best flattery.
#3 Posted by Hendrick, CJR on Fri 10 Jul 2009 at 08:12 PM
The Daily Show segment was at moments excruciating to watch, particularly to those of us who are pretty much addicted to the NYT and need our daily fix. Yet, watching the segment several times, I came to realize they take themselves so seriously, can't contain their arrogance, and are incredibly defensive. It's a cultural legacy from the days when the Times had little editorial competition and a 55% pretax margin on classified advertising. In some ways it's not the competition killing them, it's themselves. I hope they didn't fire that junior PR person.
#4 Posted by Cathy Cranston, CJR on Fri 10 Jul 2009 at 10:27 PM
@cathy I would cation you against concluding too much regarding the Times' alleged arrogance or anything else based on the Jason Jones segment. Those pieces are filmed over many, many hours, usually with a single camera. (I have seen it done.)
In other words, the long reaction shots, or pregnant pauses, or confused looks from Bill were almost certainly reactions to completely different questions, or were simply b-roll, edited into place for the highest possible comedic impact.
That's what they do (and, I might add, why I love it).
#5 Posted by Aron Pilhofer, CJR on Sat 11 Jul 2009 at 09:35 AM
It's funny you quote the TIME piece. I wrote a whole blog post on how revealing that piece was about Mr. Keller's 'old media' mindset. http://byjoeybaker.com/2009/07/11/dear-bill-keller/
#6 Posted by Joey Baker, CJR on Sun 12 Jul 2009 at 05:16 PM
Hi Aaron, you make a very good point about video/broadcast technology and editing. I wonder if most viewers are aware of all that can be "left on the cutting room floor" and if not, how can they think critically and skeptically about the medium. My comments about arrogance come from broader exposure to the NYT. I work there for 12 years, on the business side. Best regards,
Cathy
#7 Posted by Cathy Cranston, CJR on Mon 13 Jul 2009 at 08:58 AM
While I am a regular reader of the NY Times, and I agree that it is a better than average example of the breed, what is the comparison? I can read the NY Post if I want BS and gossip.
I can read the Daily News if I want murder and mayhem with a glossing over of anything approaching real news. And, unfortunately, both papers are so poliltically biased as to make the old Pravda appear to have been objective.
Keller should worry more about improving the Times, rather than comparing it to the detritus that fills current day journalism.
#8 Posted by Jack, CJR on Mon 13 Jul 2009 at 01:59 PM