New York Times Public Editor Picks Fight with DealBook

The Players: Arthur Brisbane, Public Editor for The New York Times; Larry Ingrassia, Business Editor for The New York Times

The Opening Serve: Brisbane used his Sunday column to pose a question, "WILL readers of The New York Times in print get less because The Times must invest to compete for readers and advertisers in the digital medium?" Brisbane believes so and looks no further than The Times's successful news site in DealBook. "The expansion last November added 11 journalists, swelling the DealBook staff to 15, a large investment for a newspaper company in today’s straitened circumstances," Brisbane wrote. "When the world economic system shuddered and stock markets dropped, I was left wondering whether The Times should have spent its money not on expanding DealBook but on enlarging its stable of journalists aimed at the wider subjects of international banks and sovereign debt." Brisbane consulted an expert who explained that DealBook specializes in breaking and incremental stories, ranging from "George Soros' girlfriend problems" to "deals, hedge fund news and the doings of people on the Street" not "broader issues" like the "deepening hole in Europe" which is what Brisbane believes The Times should be focusing on.