It raised the standard of triviality for daily newspapers. This rating game is hype without substance. Rating newspapers and offering cryptic justifications offers no help to editors and publishers trying to solve their problems, which are usually local and more complicated than a national survey with glib conclusions. CJR has long tolerated the philosophy that journalism can be practiced in a petri dish. Its arrogance, however, has been mostly harmless.
Editors read and shrugged.
The magazine's attempt to rate newspapers is not harmless, and the November article establishes no journalistic reason for the undertaking. The New York Times is a great newspaper for its range of coverage, its superb op-ed page, and its coverage of culture as news. Its discovery of trends in popular culture and politics occurs too frequently. The Journal 's front page recently carried stories about skull surgery, military preparedness, new cancer vaccines, and the use of old technology to create new music sounds. The Journal 's editorials stimulate thought and debate on issues well beyond business.