After almost year on the job, New York Times ombudsman Dan Okrent has finally been pummeled by reader criticism into a useless, angry defensive institutional crouch. The left complains–but hey, the right complains too! “[E]very judgment, it appears, offends someone.” So screw all of you! . . .
Er, what was Okrent’s job again? Defender of the Times against the Public? Something like that. … What’s the use of an ombudsman who doesn’t think his paper ever screws up, who is shy about naming names when it comes to finding fault, and who seems to hate those who complain to him?
It hasn’t worked out as well as I’d hoped.
UPDATE: An interesting perspective on Daniel Okrent’s naming of names.