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Nonetheless, tradition, propriety and a vast sense of self-importance still weigh heavily on Times editors and reporters, as does the constricting drabness of its first-section design. Although it has its share of exemplary stylists, the Times rarely achieves the aura of spontaneity and surprise that beguiles (or infuriates) readers of the Washington Post or the Boston Globe. The prose is often institutional or, in features, cloyingly cute. Admits Rosenthal: "The paper has not much humor." The staffs awareness of its power and responsibility has resulted in a high level of accuracy, although the editorial stance, the Op-Ed page selections and occasionally the news judgments tilt to the left.
Depth of talent is still the Times's most enviable asset. Its prestige enables it to lure star writers from other papers to routine assignments, from which they must fight to get stories into print. Times columnists and critics automatically become figures of national prominence. Among the best are Humorist Russell Baker, Political Commentator William Safire, Drama Critic Frank Rich and Architecture Critic Paul Goldberger. But the paper's political coverage lags behind the Washington Post's, and its business and sports sections are both weak when compared with those at other major papers. But even with these limitations, the Times remains the nation's paper of record. Its readers may sometimes wish it did not so self-consciously assert that rank.
The Philadelphia Inquirer
When Walter Annenberg sold the Inquirer in 1969 to a forerunner of the Knight-Ridder chain, the city's dominant paper was the rival Bulletin, which advertised, more or less accurately, "In Philadelphia, nearly everyone reads the Bulletin." The Inquirer was uncreative, undistinguished—it even employed an investigative reporter who took money to suppress stories—and in danger of dying an unmourned death.
In 1972 the paper hired Eugene Roberts, a former New York Times national editor, and over the next decade he directed one of the most remarkable turnarounds, in quality and profitability, in the history of American journalism. The paper won six consecutive Pulitzer Prizes from 1975 through 1980 in six different categories. By July 1980 the Inquirer had converted a 173,000 daily circulation gap into a small lead, and 18 months later the Bulletin folded. Roberts and his troops once again were ready. The Inquirer expanded its business and leisure coverage, the first steps in a campaign to win over former Bulletin readers. The paper also hired 95 more editorial staffers, bringing the total to some 400, and increased the news space 20%. Explains Roberts, 51: "We were aware that there would be a lot of criticism of a monopoly ownership, and we wanted to prove that we would be better rather than worse."