Arts of the Timeses: Tribune Pales in Coast Comparison
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Paul Goldberger, the cultural news editor at the New York Times, oversees a staff of 60 editors and reporters whose sole job is covering the arts in New York and, increasingly, around the world. Goldberger doesn’t expect his staff to grow in upcoming months, though some familiar bylines will leave and new ones will appear. Since architecture critic Goldberger became chief cultural editor in mid-1990, he has been trying to make the paper’s arts reporting as strong as its criticism. “We have the strongest cadre of critics in the country,” he says. “We’re trying to do much more aggressive, enterprising reporting.” He’s aiming for a mix of features, hard news, investigative pieces, and business coverage.
Unfortunately, the arts section Chicagoans see in the Times’s weekday national edition, usually at least four or more pages, is an abridged version of the one available to New Yorkers. “The national desk edits the culture pages considerably,” noted Goldberger, though the amount of cutting varies from day to day. Some stories are edited down, others are edited out completely.
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): photo/Charles Eshelman.
