WELCOME to the debut of “The Truth Is!”, a blog of reporting and commentary that aims to be informative, thoughtful and provocative. At least initially, the blog will have a strong heartland flavor by virtue of the connection of a number of us to Cowles family journalism. I am former editor of the Des Moines Register’s opinion pages. Another contributor, Michael Gartner, is former editor of the paper; he later served as president of NBC News. Another former Register editor who has agreed to contribute, Geneva Overholser, is director of the University of Southern California’s Annenberg school of journalism. Followers of the blog will have access also to the work of Herbert Strentz of Des Moines, a close Register and other newspaper watcher who once headed Drake University’s journalism school. Bill Leonard, a longtime Register editorial writer, will add insights.

“The Truth Is!” will be supervised by my daughter, Marcia Wolff, a communications lawyer for 20 years with Arnold and Porter (Washington, D.C.). Invaluable technical assistance in assembling and maintaining the blog is provided by my grandsons Julian Cranberg, a college first-year, and Daniel Wolff, a high school senior.

If you detect a whiff of nepotism in this operation, so be it. All of it is strictly a labor of love. —Gil Cranberg

Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Gilbert Cranberg: TIME’S ATROCIOUS IDEA

Time magazine plans to change its chain-of-command so that the editorial side of the publication will report to the business side. What an atrocious idea! Even if the business side applies its power to influence news decisions with the lightest of hands, the perception that commercial considerations determine content does the publication immense harm.

And even if non-editorial people won’t actually edit stories, putting the business side in charge is bound to be stultifying. How many story ideas won’t even be suggested because of concern that it won’t be judged on its editorial merits?

I once visited Time’s editorial offices and was startled to be offered a drink from the open bar operating there. Drinking on the job was not just tolerated, it appeared to be encouraged, judging from the flow of free liquor I witnessed. I wonder now if the flawed judgment that made it seem OK to drink while working is still part of Time’s culture and explains why the powers-that-be believe it to be a good idea to put the business side in charge of editorial operations.

But then, I worked for many years at a newspaper where the advertising manager had a self-imposed policy of never visiting the newsroom because he worried that his presence would be seen as an attempt to influence news coverage on behalf of an advertiser.

That ad manager carried the wall of separation between news and business too far, just as Time now doesn’t carry it far enough. The ad manager’s name was Lyle Linn. Time needs a few Lyle Linns in its upper ranks.



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