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his job, that Frankel simply wouldn't wait around for a year and a half, and that he would lose Frankel altogether from the Times.

Whether that was a true statement, a genuine reason or not, I don't know. If so, I have to say that it was not a very good reason because, as I pointed out at the time, as I think I've already mentioned, Frankel could have found plenty of important things to do at the Times during this intervening period. But that's not what happened.

So the question of whether or not this change also represented a change in editorial policy was one that was discussed and speculated on in the general public. In that connection, I want to read to you a memo that I wrote to Punch, that I sent to Punch in mid-May, May 19th, 1976, which was, as I said to him, “a suggested draft regarding the editorial department for your” -- Punch's -- “monthly report to the board of directors.” The monthly report that the publisher made to the board of directors naturally covered the activities and problems in the various departments of the Times, including the editorial --

Here was my draft, part of my draft suggestion to Punch for the board, covering the editorial board. I do not believe that it was ever actually entered into the report that Punch gave. I'm not certain of this. I never saw that monthly report. But I very much doubt that it was. Here it goes. It's meant to cover the editorial department as reported by the publisher to the board of directors, covering the period April 20th - May 16th, 1976. “The announcement in the Times on April 6th of the prospective change in editorship of the editorial page, effective January 1, 1977, was followed by widespread published reports (Washington Post, New York Daily News, New York Magazine, etc.) of major changes in the composition of the editorial board of the Times, as well as expressed fears inside and outside the Times building that a