MICKEY KAUS checks in on Raines and Bowd’s resignations, as he pronounces his patented Howell-O-Meter RIP after only one use:
Quick thoughts: 1) It’s not as if the NYT is going to stop being a liberal paper. But maybe the Times’ annoying tendency to unashamedly equate Upper West Side liberal sentiments with “objective” reporting (“Call It journalism,” as Boyd said of theTimes’ embarrassing Augusta crusade) will temporarily abate. It always seemed to me, however, that the trend became apparent under the editorship of Joseph Lelyveld, who has now been brought back as interim editor. 2) If this had happened 10 years ago, when the Internet didn’t exist, Raines would still be running the place. The Times staff would be just as unhappy, but they’d be unable to instantaneously organize and vent their displeasure on Romenesko and elsewhere. It was this suddenly-transparent internal opposition, more than the constant pummeling from bloggers, that brought Raines down.
He’s very likely right on that last bit, although Glenn and especially Andrew’s work certainly may have sped the process up.
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