Now that we know the person of the year (at least according to Time magazine), I have a nomination for the understatement of the year. It's this: New York Times readers examine the paper closely.
Here's an example or two, from my recent mail, and some responses from Times editors:
On Locations in New York City Articles
A Manhattan reader, Richard Barr, wrote to say that he has often noticed that The Times is much more likely to provide a specific location in a story when that location is in Manhattan rather than elsewhere in New York City. He wonders what lies beneath this â€" do the outer boroughs simply not rate as high with reporters and editors?
This practice, intentional or not, was exceptionally head-scratching (to me) in the piece (Dec. 9) “Bringing Back the Artistic Beauty of a 19th-Century Church†in which the “stunning†and “exquisite†architecture of St. Anselm's Church is discussed in detail. Not discussed in detail, however, was the location, described once as “in the South Bronx†and once as “tucked between the Melrose and Longwood areas.â€
People reading about it might well become interested in seeing it. I was born, and spent my first 25 years living, in the Bronx. I have been all over the borough then, and since moving to Manhattan decades ago. I cannot figure out precisely where this building is, based on the amount of information provided in the article. I can only imagine what someone unfamiliar with the Bronx could figure out.
Mr. Barr would like to see that kind of information in articles in The Times regularly, and, reasonably enough, believes that readers shouldn't have to research it elsewhere.
I asked the Metro editor, Wendell Jamieson, about the articles and about the practice in general. He said that the editors on his desk “strive to be specific where ever we write about - Manhattan, the boroughs, or anywhere in the region.â€
He noted that the desk's editors “are not Manhattan-centric at all†and include those who were born and raised in the Bronx, Brooklyn (including him), Queens and Manhattan, as well as Long Island, Westchester, New Jersey and Connecticut â€" and still live in those places.
He added: “We don't have an editor who was raised on Staten Island, but we just got a new columnist who was - Rachel Swarns.†(Ms. Swarns has started a new Metro column, “The Working Life.â€)
As for this particular case, Mr. Jamieson said, “it was an accidental omission.â€
On Including a Person's Age in Articles
Moira Dolan, another Manhattan reader, wrote to note that on the Dec. 6 Business section front page, two women are featured. In both cases, their ages are given: Marjorie M. Scardino, 66, the first woman on the Twitter board of directors, and Shirley Hickey, 65, in an article about treating allergies.
She noted that other articles do not include the ages of men on the same section front. Â They include one about Ford cars, which makes reference to the c.o.o. Mark Fields; another about economic growth and Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank; and a third about Edward S. Lampert, in an article on losses at Sears.
Ms. Dolan, who describes herself as “longtime subscriber, age not relevant,†wants to know what the style rule is on using people's ages in articles.
I posed her question to Philip B. Corbett, the associate managing editor for standards. He wrote:
The guideline, which is in the stylebook, is to include the age if it's relevant or useful. Obviously that gives writers some leeway, but I think it is pretty much what we've done in each of these cases. The Twitter story was all about Scardino, the new board member, and her career; naturally you want to know how old she is. In the allergy story, Hickey is an example of someone who's suffered for years and is now benefiting from a new medical treatment; age certainly seems relevant.
He noted that the story on Mr. Lampert did include his age, 51, lower in the article. The other two articles are about car exports and European growth, not about the specific men, he said.
In other stories in the same day's paper, The Times included the age of many men, Mr. Corbett said. They were: William J. Bratton, 66 (and, of course, Nelson Mandela, 95); Ronnie Smith, teacher killed in Benghazi, 33; Shezanne Cassim, American arrested in Dubai, 29; Lester Charles, calypso singer and protester, 43; Joshua M. Davidson, new rabbi, 45; Rufino Garcia, graffiti fan, 69; and the Rev. Danilo Lachepel, who runs a food pantry, 58.
Mr. Corbett makes a persuasive case. He noted, however, that there is “no question that unconscious (or conscious) sexism can be a problem, and something we need to be very alert to.â€
