New York Times - review

New York Times

I once made the conclusion that I could judge a city by its newspaper. The London Times, for example, whetted my desire to move to London; the Chicago Tribune helped me to cross the Windy City off my list of places to live. I thought that the New York Times was a reflection of the city, and felt a certain sense of sophistication by moving to such an educated, mature city. Then I started actually reading the paper.

In fairness, I usually do not have a problem with the paper or its content. I miss the funnies section, but hey, that's for less sophisticated people. Then I started reading articles like one that was on the front page on July 4th some few years ago, and it read like some high school essay written for a Patriotic Speech of the Week contest. The quality was amaturish, using more adjectives than nouns. I could only imagine it was the work of some intern whose father was close buddies with the editor in chief. It was an essay of the utmost frivolity, and it was disheartening to think it was not only in the paper, but on the front page.

I continued to read the Times with a wary eye, and find it interesting that when I read articles on subject I really know nothing about, I just assume it to be true. Then I would read an article on some subject I know about quite well, and find I get rather offended at the misinformation and misguided critique. You would think I would learn that that all that I read is a few degrees shy of the accuracy and truth of the matter, or that I would stop reading the paper altogether. But read on I do. Is it the font? The layout of the sections? Or that the advertisers include Tiffanys and Barneys? It is one of the few trusted publications of all things ongoing in NYC, and it's easier to begin a conversation with., "Hey did you read that article in the New York Times about..."

At least the Tuesday Health/Science section continues to give me fodder for preaching about how deplorable the degree of state of healthcare is in this country. ("Hey, did you read that article in the New York Times about how many thousands of patients have been killed in hospitals last year because the nurses/interns gave them too much medication?")

At least now I settle for the online version, which is free of course, save for the editorials whose headlines are prefaced with a large orange "T" indicating it is only for those special readers who pay. I pretend I'm helping to save the environment by not purchasing the paper edition, but in truth I'm saving myself a nice chunk of change. Sorry Maureen Dowd, I love your column but I love my pocket change more.