Media Covering Media

Those of us who work in media are always watching ourselves and each other. This week, the drama gets a reference from Candide.

Just the opening 'graph --- the subject of the story discusses his own management style and Panngloss. Voltaire - and this isn't even public radio!

The often poetic New York Observer had some fascinating perspectives on the WSJ's transition:

"For the past two weeks, Robert Thomson, publisher of The Wall Street Journal, has been busy not being the paper's editor. It hasn't been easy. Since April 22, Thomson, who was forced to describe himself in an interview with The New York Times as the interim "head of content" for the paper, has had nine meetings to soothe the fraying nerves of his orphaned editorial staff."

“Let’s not be panglossian—there is uncertainty and thus it is proper for me to stand in front of our journalists and take the tough, challenging questions,” Mr. Thomson wrote in an e-mail to Off the Record.

All about Rupert Murdoch and his minion at his newfound dominion, the Wall Street Journal... (gee - this Voltaire stuff rubs off on you...). Not to dismiss Mr. Thomson at all, but this is all so poetic!

Of course, the nomenclature issue over whether to be called "Editor," "Head of Content," or whatever buzzword of the day we want to intone in our multi-platform world shows how important titles are.

But it is clear, if you are currently at the Wall Street Journal, Robert Thomson is the boss of thee.