…Well, former Timesmen. Seems both the New York Times news execs who stepped aside to make the Jayson hooha go away had speaking gigs in the past couple days. Gerald Boyd, speaking to a bunch of newspaper editors, says something sure to warm every publisher’s heart: we’re paid too much, and this isolates us from our audience. Funny how above-starvation pay separates us from the little people, but bloated executive pay is proper compensation for a job well done. Meanwhile, Howell Raines is quoted in a British publication as saying we’re getting too much like the Brits, newswise. That is, partisanship is leaking into our pages and broadcasts.
OK, fair enough. It’s good that we’ve cut these guys some slack over the Jayson mess … I mean, who could pick the day when a reporter among them would just start, well, making stuff up? Just not done, except when it is. But anyway. Also good that they’re being quoted and getting speaking gigs. Nice for the morale and the bank account (depending on the gig, of course).
I just wonder how much respect we ought to confer on them because of their star-spangled resumes. They say stuff obvious to everybody and it has gravitas because they are People of the Times; we say the same stuff on blogs and we’re geeky little Internet addicts who need to get a life.