Dear New York Times Editor Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr.,
Hello from New Orleans! My name is Lance Vargas and I am a New Orleans blogger. How is everything up in Nee’ New Amsterdam? As always, it’s Heaven and Hell down here. The Mayor is an embarrassment. The Governor is starting all kinds of trouble but at least he’s keeping his pants on right? Can’t say so much for our Junior Senator though! Whoa! Hey!
The reason why I am writing is to get your advice on linking to media Web sites. See, we have a few print publications down here that have linking policies in their Terms of Service that require written permission for Nola Bloggers to link to their Web sites.
To be honest, one of the publications I myself have never linked to since it isn’t really my style of rag and the other is our alt weekly that, sadly, has become less-and-less alt and more-and-more of an advertiser over the years. I even spotted some clip art in their layout a while back! Yikes!
Anyway, since the Times has been the standard-bearer for print journalism for more than 150 years, I thought I would ask you if this a policy that the New York Times also holds? Why or why not? Why would a publication NOT want to have the readership cite it in blog posts? Is there a legal ramification if folks just decide to disregard the policy? I normally wouldn’t link to either of them but the publisher of the alt weekly often writes editorials and it seems only fair that New Orleans’ most vocal citizens provide a link to theses editorials if they choose to retort. It only saves the readers a step and the readers and after all, the readers are the most important thing.
Sorry to bother you but I wanted to go straight to the highest authority about this issue and I think you are it.
Keep up the good work and thank you for the many, many stories the paper has written about New Orleans’ recovery from the levee breeches. You guys stayed with us after many of those dastardly broadcast journalists moved on. We sure appreciate it. Send some of those Spitzer reporters down here!
Also, I am posting this letter and your response on my blog!
Sincerely,
Lance Vargas
P.S. Sorry for typing this letter in AP style. I haven’t even come close to mastering the staid and formal style of The Times. But I do capitalize all the words in my headlines just like you do! Hat tip!
Whenever you throw out a “Whoa! Hey!” I always think of Burma Jones.
And why the hell isn’t Burma a more popular name these days?
And your wallpaper looks like it would go fine on an “OK Go” page.
By the way, that’s a really good question you pose. Maybe you could have also axed him why Nossiter gets so much wrong so often.
Mr. Jones was the inspiration. He inspires me every day. He may be my favorite literary character ever.