Abramson out as NYT editor, Baquet replaces her

I'm having a hard time understanding how Sulzberger and Thompson were on board with hiring Gibson, and involved in the recruiting process, but are saying it was up to Abramson to sell Baquet on the idea that she would be coming at the same level as Baquet.

What executive is going to be ok with that? They essentially gave him a veto on the hire, and fired Abramson when he exercised it.

If she lied and told Sulzberger and Thompson that she'd talked to him, and he was cool with it, then she's an idiot.

But, she was still set up for failure under this scenario.

 

If you fire someone for cause, do you do so after negotiating what has to be a costly settlement?

 

Yeah, if this is Pinch's story, it would have been a lot more compelling as the first, second or third version.

 

It does not strike me as logical that she'd ask Baquet to have lunch with Gibson and not expect the offer to be mentioned. I can't believe she wouldn't have discussed the offer with him before that lunch. Why would he have agreed to the lunch without knowing something about the reason for the lunch. If she really was trying to hide hiring Gibson from Baquet, why did she arrange the lunch?

 

NY Times dining editor is "weary" of a reporter digging into a story, and using anonymous sources:


Susan Edgerley ‏@nytedgerley

I grow weary of Ken Aluetta and his, ahem, well-placed sources. #letsgoback2work

https://twitter.com/nytedgerley/status/468163097400578048

 

David Carr:

 

I kind of wonder if Baquet really would have left, if he had already turned in an actual letter of resignation, or not. And I kind of doubt it.

He surely knew he was in line to become the next executive editor of the NYT, and at this point, I doubt he wants to practice journalism anywhere else.

While Carr's descriptions of Baquet seem apt and accurate in as far as they went, and I'm sure he could rally the newsroom, in my limited experiences with Baquet, he always struck me as almost too smooth, and it made him seem, well, just a little bit oily, too.

 

I like this graf a lot.

Used to be the norm, dammit.

 

Billy Beane. Now there's someone who's courageous.

 

Don't you mean Billy Bean?

 

Sulzberger's line faulting Abramson for “arbitrary decision-making" is a hoot.

What's the point of being the EIC of the NYT if you can't make decisions based on what you think is right.

What's the point of having a key to the Benz if you have to ask Daddy to drive it first?

What's the point of filling out a lineup card if you have to ask the team president who you can and cannot use?

 

Ezra Klein's contention that Sulzberger fired Abramson because they couldn't get along but he can't admit it makes sense to me. Nothing like a cowardly tyrant at the helm.