'Ferocious Kind of Love' Behind Times-Bashing

Do we have to read about the VP's weight in every dispatch?

(NEWSER) - Al Gore is having an astonishing political second act, leading the charge to save the planet, but the supercilious writers at the New York Times can't resist condescending to him, observes playwright Jon Robin Baitz, doing a little reverse reviewing in his blog. TheTimes, he argues, displays its "allergy to earnestness" in snide references to Gore's girth and Hollywood gloss. More»

Co-founder is one of 4 staffers let go

(NEWSER) - Slate co-founder Jack Shafer, who has been with the online magazine since before its official launch in 1996, is being laid off, it was announced yesterday. The media critic is one of four staff members being let go; Timothy Noah , June Thomas , and Juliet Lapidos are the others, reports the Washington Post . (The Washington Post Co. bought Slate in 2004 from Microsoft.) Some reactions:

• "If you weren't reading [Jack, Tim, June, and Juliet's] stuff, you're in luck—it'll be online 'til the Internet dies," writes Slate colleague David Weigel. "If you write, you should study it, because these people think and write circles around most everyone in the job-formerly-known-as-the-Life-of-Kings."

Most won't have to pay, paper says

(NEWSER) - The New York Times’ long-expected paywall is due next month, and details are starting to leak out about the plan. Everyone will have limited free access to the site, sources tell the Wall Street Journal , but once users reach that limit, they'll have to pony up. Users can buy either a subscription to just the site, or a digital bundle that also includes the Times’ iPad app. Subscribers to the physical paper will have full access to the website. More»

No new info in supposedly unprecedented reconstruction

(NEWSER) - The New York Times ' sweeping account of the Deepwater Horizon's final hours may be compelling storytelling, but it is not news, claims AP oil spill reporter Harry Weber . Though the Times story claims to be an account built from new disclosures that "make it possible to finally piece together the Horizon’s last hours," it's just a rehash of facts published by the AP six months ago, Weber writes. And its publication "six days before" year's end makes it seem the Times wants "to have the last word on the oil spill, perhaps as a nod to the Pulitzer board." More»

But that plan doesn't have the details

(NEWSER) - If you want to read the New York Times online, it's going to cost you—but not for everything and not until next year. The Times confirmed its planned paywall today, but execs “could not yet answer fundamental questions about the plan.” The Times will allow users to read a certain number of stories for free each month, then charge a flat fee for further unlimited access. But the company isn’t yet sure how much it’ll charge, or how many free articles readers will get. More»