Newswise — Daniel R. Schwarz, Cornell professor of English, reflects on the death of Arthur Ochs Sulzberger (1926-2012), who was the New York Times’ publisher from 1963-92. Schwarz wrote the recently published book, “Endtimes? Crises and Turmoil at the New York Times, 1999-2009” from Excelsior Editions of SUNY Press.
He says:
“The Sept. 30 Sunday Times's front page obituary for Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, 1926-2012, the New York Times’ publisher from 1963-92 — and grandson of Adolph Ochs who bought the Times in 1896 — was a well-deserved in-house encomium, even if it bordered on hagiography. During his years as publisher, the Times continued to be the ‘paper of record’ to which readers looked daily and the most esteemed and trusted label in American journalism. At the same time the daily paper changed from the two section newspaper to a multi-section hybrid newspaper-magazine with a rotating focus on Sports (Monday), Science (Tuesday), Dining (Wednesday), Home (Thursday), and Weekend (Friday) with its focus on the Arts.
“The passing of Arthur Ochs Sulzberger reminds us of how rapidly the Times has changed in recent years and how the current publisher, his son Arthur Sulzberger, Jr. faces more difficult financial challenges than his father ever faced. In the context of today’s newsgathering world with its social media and blogosphere, Arthur Ochs Sulzberger is almost a quaint figure, someone who presided over the Times in a different era.
“His major accomplishments included the courageous publication of the Pentagon Papers that outlined how the USA became involved in Viet Nam. Due to a Supreme Court ruling in favor of publication without prior restraint, the Times was responsible for extending the First Amendment rights of the press.
“Arthur Ochs Sulzberger appointed Abe Rosenthal as the first Jewish Executive Editor, something his father, Arthur Hays Sulzberger — who opposed the creation of Israel and allowed the Times on his watch to minimize the Holocaust — would not have done. That appointment turned out to be a stroke of genius. Although the affable and low-keyed Sulzberger and Rosenthal were apparently polar opposites, Sulzberger gave Rosenthal—passionate, imaginative, and innovative (although at times irascible and abrasive) — a free hand to move the Times from simply reporting facts to more analytic and contextual reporting. Rosenthal moved the Times to a more lively style at a time when some of the writing—while detailed and through — was colorless, repetitious, and ponderous. And Rosenthal played a central role in urging the publication of the Pentagon Papers.”
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