NY Times Editorial Board Announces New Group Blog
October 17, 2007 -- 9:45 AM EST // //
I'm surprised this hasn't gotten more attention, because it could prove to be a very interesting experiment. The editorial board of The New York Times has just unveiled a new group blog called, appropriately enough, "The Board."
In its inaugural post, The Board says that posts will be written by the edit board's 19 members and that most will be unsigned, but it also promises some bylined pieces in the future. It also promises to talk a bit about how the board reaches its opinions. All this could offer a welcome glimpse into what often seems like a mysterious, almost Talmudic process.
The Board also appears to be planning on taking a more politically active role than one might expect from the normally cautious Times. One blog post, for instance, calls on readers to call their Representatives to urge a Yes vote on the coming effort to override President Bush's veto of the SCHIP bill. It lists out all the Reps who voted No last time and asks readers to "take a look at the list of nay-sayers and see if your representative is one who needs to be pressured to switch sides." One can only hope for more of this.
It's a good thing that the Times edit board is trying to get a bit closer to its readers, because in my view it has gotten too little credit for being a voice of sanity at key moments when mental equilibrium has deserted our opinion leaders en masse. People forget, for instance, that the paper courageously opposed the Iraq invasion on the eve of its launch at a moment when much of the nation's opinion elite was so terrified by all the war-whooping that it cravenly gave its blessing, and cover, to Bush's adventure.
This lack of credit is partly because of the proliferation of opinion on the Web and partly because so much Internet energy and attention is expended on targeting the Times edit board's naughty and adolescent brethren at the Washington Post edit board, which has long since dropped any pretense of intellectual honesty when it comes to matters of war or national security. The Board could give The Times edit board more of the Web presence it deserves.
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