Home
Search transcripts:    Advanced Search
Notable New     Yorkers
Select     Notable New Yorker

John B. OakesJohn B. Oakes
Photo Gallery
Transcript

Part:         Session:         Page of 512

Q:

One article, in connection with this, which did go over the New York Times pretty much was the article that they had, when you still had a West Coast edition, saying “money was being poured down the drain,” and making-

Oakes:

I'm afraid in this case they were right.

Q:

Exactly, and talking about the parochialism, the way a lot of people described the Paris edition also, and there was a great deal of criticism, and I believe that subsequently you did change the Paris edition.

Oakes:

Yes. Well, all I can say is that I think of the criticism of the western edition for not getting enough attention to-well, this would really be parochialism in reverse, in the sense, because I felt, and I think the point of Time's criticism of the western edition, which was well founded, was that we did not give enough attention to western regional news. I kept saying during the short career of the western edition, I felt that we ought to give more attention to western regional news, and I was sorry that the decision had to be made to give up the western edition for financial reasons. I felt that if we did make a considerable shift in this direction of paying more attention to western regional news, we might have saved it, although I will admit that the figures were very strongly against anything being able to save it. So, I think Time's criticism in this sense was justified.

In Paris, by parochialism, you're referring to the idea that we're publishing a New York newspaper rather than an American newspaper.





© 2006 Columbia University Libraries | Oral History Research Office | Rights and Permissions | Help