NY Times: Less Editorial Oversight, More Content, Shorter Stories
May 28th, 2007 by Dan Blank
Gawker gives us some amazing quotes from The New York Times’ Executive Editor Bill Keller. Among the topics:
- More content:
“[Bill] spoke about the “gradual reallocation of resources from print towards digital” and copy editors being moved to the day side, so that there could be a “greater flow of fresh quality edit material.” - Less editorial oversight:
“We can’t let our reverence for quality become a straitjacket in new media,” he warned. “The web environment is different… We can offer guidance but we cannot insist on the same control we exercise over print.” - Shorter stories:
“ur stories are too often too long… The 1200 word stories could be 800 or 900. There are editors at a Page 1 meeting boasting that a story is only 1400 words.” - Guesswork on profitability:
“Someone asked how the Times plans to make money off the web. “I heartily believe we will,” Keller said. “How, is a lot more complicated.” … “There’s a phrase they use in drug and alcohol rehab—’fake it til you make it.’ That’s basically what we’re doing.”
(link via Scott Karp)
