Follow LA Observed on Twitter here
Nikki Finke reports on the LA Weekly website that the New York Times is moving ahead with plans to hire a second Hollywood reporter to work alongside Sharon Waxman, a TV reporter to take Jim Rutenberg's place in New York, and Bernie Weinraub's replacement in the L.A. bureau. She quotes from the memo written by NYT culture news editor Jonathan Landman:
"Hollywood conducts business with journalists in ways that do not necessarily fit the journalistic worldview on display in our ‘Ethical Journalism’ booklet," he smirks. "You will be attacked. All errors, however innocent, will be caught and parsed for meaning. It’s hard to think of a posting this side of Jerusalem that subjects its inhabitants to closer (and harsher) inspection. But it’s a hell of an interesting gig....""Some knowledge of the movie industry would be nice, but we do not need an established Hollywood person here."
Finke also predicts another round of NYT raids on the L.A. Times staff, but doesn't say for which jobs. Her web column today also blames former Michael Ovitz rep Howard Rubenstein for a Page Six piece in the New York Post that accuses NYT reporter Laura Holson of being unprofessional in the courtroom during testimony in the Disney shareholder lawsuit. Finke says Ovitz and friends are upset with Holson's coverage of the trial in Delaware.
* More Finke: She's quoted in a New York magazine piece about her ex-husband, Jeffrey Greenberg, the second-generation insurance mogul at the center of the Marsh & McLennan financial scandal.