It seems posting the question about whether Joyce Wadler did indeed write the column ascribed to her is a more effective way of getting an answer from the New York Times than writing to its complaints department. Here’s Jon Landman’s email addressing the question I asked this morning:
Dear Mr. Sullivan,
You have been misinformed. Joyce Wadler did indeed write the column in question before she left for the Memorial Day weekend (it ran on the Tuesday immediately following). She did rely more heavily than usual on Campbell Robertson’s file, which is why she gave him (unnamed) credit. Campbell is a very talented young man who writes his files so well that Joyce can use unusually big chunks of them with less rewriting than would otherwise be necessary. (The reason Joyce showed me his file was to make sure people recognize his ability.) But the voice of that column – one of the most distinctive and personal in the newspaper – was clearly Joyce’s. I would add that Joyce has long argued vigorously for an exception to our usual practice of not giving named credit to legmen and women. She won the argument the day the Tuesday column ran – it was the last to run without taglines crediting her helpers. Which may want to make you rethink your conclusion that “lots of people in control at The Times still don’t get it.”
cheers, Jon Landman
Hmmm. So in future, the columns will include extra by-lines to reflect the people who actually compose them. Progress. But this new policy does indeed suggest that previously, there was an inappropriate lack of correct attribution. My insider reader wasn’t totally off the mark. I wonder who it was.
The Dish 