Behind The Times With Abe Rosenthal
Two views of recently deceased NYT executive editor Abe Rosenthal. First, from yesterday's memorial service:
Former New York Times editor A.M. Rosenthal was remembered yesterday as a fierce defender of human rights and a passionate journalist who strove to ensure his newspaper stayed free of bias in its reporting.
"He was the greatest newspaper editor of our age," said Arthur Gelb, a longtime Times editor and close friend of Mr. Rosenthal, at Mr. Rosenthal's funeral.
"Abe often said he wanted his epitaph to read, 'He kept the paper straight.' And that you did, my dear friend."
Next, from a piece on The Times' evolving coverage of the gay community:
"The way the Times worked under Rosenthal," explains Kaiser, "was that everyone below him spent all of their time trying to figure out what to do to cater to his prejudices. One of those widely perceived prejudices was Abe's homophobia. So editors throughout the paper would keep stories concerning gays out of the paper."
Actually, now that we think about it, that's just one view. One remarkably consistent view.
'Greatest' editor paid tribute in Manhattan [AP]
Out at the New York Times [Michaelangelo Signorile]
