Page One: Inside the New York Times Page #11

crippled or destroyed

important community civic assets.

Well yeah, it's going to be

a pretty rugged story,

and I want it to be, uh- fair,

which is why I'm calling you.

I mean if you want me

to characterize the overall story,

what I would say is that this

was an overleveraged company

that Mr. Zell operated

into bankruptcy,

handed this kind of

flaming baton off to Mr. Michaels.

Michaels brought in guys

from his career in radio

to help them out.

Overall, a lot of people

lost a lot of money.

Employees are out contributions.

This sounds like it's going to be

a top-to-bottom hatchet job.

Where... where is the hatchet?

I don't... I... I don't...

if there's a countemarrative, um,

I'm happy to talk about it.

If there's a heroic narrative,

I'm happy to talk about it.

We haven't even gotten

into the cultural issues,

which I'm sure are not going

to please you much at all.

Let's cut to something

a little more hard and fast.

On December 11th, 2008,

your board received in a letter-

it was anonymous-

alleging a broad pattern

of sexual harassment.

...had received oral sex

on the 22nd-floor balcony.

She also added that in a meeting

...suggested that

her assistant come in

and perform a sexual act

on him to cheer him up.

This is not 1977.

This is 2010,

and those kinds of things

are material for the people

that work there.

It created a work environment

that people say

is closer to a frat house

than a front-line media company.

So that's in there.

Headlamz 5,459.

Well, that's not going to happen.

He's got probably

6,000 words of good stuff.

Now every editor and writer

thinks they've got good stuff,

but he really does

have good stuff.

It's well written,

very very sharply reported.

It sticks to the facts,

fantastic quotes from people.

Your board looked

into these matters,

had their law firm make calls.

What did they conclude?

I'm trying to figure out

why that is important.

Well, because" because

there's people who are out

billions of dollars in debt,

who are going to decide whether

the current management is

going to stay in place.

There's judges that are

going to decide whether

they're worthy of bonuses

that are on the table.

I will see what I can find out

and we'll get back to you.

Okay, you have both my numbers,

so let me know.

Headlamz What should I know

before I listen to my messages?

He was willing to start friendly.

I brought up widespread

sexual harassment.

So when he calls and says

I can't get this sh*t together-

I should probably get this.

- Yeah.

- All right.

You shouldn't be here.

Bruce Headlam.

How are you?

You have a couple things

going for you.

He is one of the most

fair-minded people I know.

That's one thing.

He's a very diligent reporter.

We don't do hit jobs.

That's not the business we're in.

The story we were led to,

we were led to by the reporting.

Let me talk to my bosses,

see what they're thinking.

You talk to your bosses,

see what they're thinking.

And maybe we can look at it

a little more dispassionately

in the morning.

Fair enough?

You guys have negotiated

this issue to the exclusion

of everything else.

And now all of a sudden

you want to broaden out the discussion

four hours before we close?

We're interested

in getting responses from you.

They're sending a letter

from the law firm.

It'll be staking out a position.

If we say we're going

to go with that,

then another letter will

come from the law firm,

and that will be...

contain threats of legal action.

They're worried

this is a hatchet job.

They're worried where

the reporting started,

all that kind of thing.

The muscles of the institution

are going to kick in here

at some point.

It's not really up to me.

We need institutions that have

the ability both financially

and culturally

to bring news

that other institutions

and individuals cannot.

I think part

of what goes on with conferences now

is it's sort of lonely

and scary out there.

It's a way to sort of

gather around a campfire

and say,

"We're all right. Aren't we?

Are we okay?

We're fine.

We must be.

We have badges on."

- So.

- What are you doing for supper tonight?

I'm going to eat

with the AA guys.

- Oh yeah?

- Are you skinny?

How skinny are you?

- 131.

- You're short now too.

- Yeah.

- You used to be like six feet tall.

- I was at least.

- Is that going to happen to me?

- See, my neck is already bent over.

- Yeah.

Thank you so much.

Please welcome David Carr.

You have lived through

the worst cyclical,

secular recession

the publishing business

has ever seen

in modern times.

Look around you.

You're still here.

Don't think about

the people that are gone.

Think about the people

that made it.

It's a really big deal.

It's demonstrates,

number one,

that you are a bunch

of tenacious motherfuckers,

I'll tell you that.

You have proven you

cannot be killed!

I've always thought

it was a little bit of a caper

that I ended up working

at "The New York Times."

I don't think I was destined

to be the best Timesman

there ever was.

I just didn't want

to screw it up.

I would find it unspeakable

if "The New York Times"

ended up

in a diminished place,

but "The New York Times"

does not need to be

a monolith to survive.

Welcome, everybody.

We're here to take note of the fact

that journalism is alive

and well and feisty,

especially at

"The New York Times."

Just like a paper tiger

Torn apart by idle hands...

We'll see you in a little while.

I Fix yourself while you still can I

The deserts down below us...

I always find French posters

of American films funny.

Orson Welles has a size 28 waist.

Doesn't look like

any newspaperman I know

or anybody I see up

in the cafeteria,

even though we have

a salad bar.

Like a paper tiger

In the sun

Looking through

a broken diamond

To make the past what it should be

Through the ruins

and the weather

Capsized boats in the sea

The deserts down below us

And the storms up above

Like a stray dog gone defective

Like a paper tiger

In the sun

We're just holding on to nothing

To see how long nothing lasts

The deserts down below us

And the storms up above

Like a stray dog gone defective

Like a paper tiger

In the sun

There's one road to the morning

There's one road to the truth

There is one road back

to civilization

But there's no road back to you

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