Down with the NYT!

Encounter Bids The New York York Times Farewell:

Once upon a time, and not that long ago, it meant something if your book was reviewed in The New York Times Book Review. A Times review imparted a vital existential certification as well as a commercial boost. Is that still the case? Less and less, I believe. The Times in general has lost influence as the paper has receded into parochial, left-liberal boosterism and politically correct reportage. And where its news and comment have become increasingly politicized, its cultural coverage has become increasingly superficial and increasingly captive of establishment, i.e., left-liberal, pieties and “lifestyle” radicalism.

--Meh, I quit reading the NYT quite a while back, I just plain don't like the smarminess. But considering their target audience, I ought not be surprised. And as I am well outside that group, I doubt that I will persuade them to change course. Perhaps if the company's stellar performance continues, they will become an attractive target for someone like Rupert Murdoch. (Not likely, Pinch's family retains voting rights controls, and they seem to be content to let him run the paper into the ground.)