Email Author Cynthia Cotts

2002 Stories by Cynthia Cotts

• Hooked on a Feeling

  published December 31, 2002

  In 2002, the word "bitter" or a variation of it appeared in more than 2200 New York Times articles—suggesting either a cultural trend... More >>

• Secret Santa

  published December 24, 2002

  At year's end, falling revenues and shrinking feature wells have left many editors and writers depressed and prone to squabbling. But Press Clips... More >>

• Is There a Doctor in the House?

  published December 10, 2002

  The New York Times seems to be catching a lot of flak lately, on both the editorial and business sides. Last week, critics accused... More >>

• Everyone's Right to Spin

  published December 3, 2002

  On December 13, U.S. Supreme Court justices will meet privately to decide whether a certain First Amendment case is worthy of their notice. Among... More >>

• Waiting for the Invitation

  published December 3, 2002

  On November 25, PEN American Center announced a major tribute to Samuel Beckett, to be held December 9 at Town Hall. Curated by New York... More >>

• Smoke Signals

  published November 19, 2002

  If and when a press corps of 3000 to 5000 lands with the U.S. military in Iraq, should they be prohibited from broadcasting the war live, using... More >>

• It's a Gas, Gas, Gas

  published November 12, 2002

  At first it looked like a cause for international outrage—"Nerve Gas Mystery" was the New York Post's headline on October 28. What had... More >>

• Man of Nine Lives

  published November 5, 2002

  Last week, the Columbia Journalism Review accused Times photographer Edward Keating of staging a photo of a six-year-old boy with a... More >>

• Sweet Smell of Success

  published October 29, 2002

  Every year just after Halloween, something really scary happens: The Audit Bureau of Circulation releases circulation figures for the six-month... More >>

• Blame It on Al Qaeda

  published October 22, 2002

  Last week brought the scariest news since September 11: Westerners lie dead from Bali to the Beltway, and the killers are on the loose. D.C.... More >>

• Smear for Smear

  published October 15, 2002

  The more mud that gets flung, the harder it is to see anything clearly. The latest such media match pits Secretary of the Army Thomas White and... More >>

• Green and Greener

  published October 8, 2002

  For some of us, the raison d'etre of an alternative weekly is to speak truth to power, to publish stories that are smart, social-minded, and... More >>

• Vietnam Surfacing

  published September 24, 2002

  Is Iraq going to be Vietnam all over again—or will there never be another war like that? Given the unflinching support for last year's... More >>

• Investigate This

  published September 17, 2002

  "Mr. Raines is nothing if not competitive." That's how one insider explains the announcement last week that New York Times executive editor... More >>

• Facial Profiling

  published September 10, 2002

  Is Malcolm Gladwell a brilliant thinker and storyteller—or a pollyanna who blithely overhypes his subjects? To fans of the author and New... More >>

• Taking the Lead, Again

  published September 3, 2002

  "What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; and there is nothing new under the sun." What Ecclesiastes said is... More >>

• Howellin' Wolf

  published August 27, 2002

  If certain conservatives fear the liberal media will turn public opinion against the upcoming war on Iraq, it's too late. The cat's out of the... More >>

• A Tale of Two Rudys

  published August 20, 2002

  Former deputy mayor Rudy Washington appears to have a blatant conflict of interest that has been overlooked by the New York press. Less than a... More >>

• The Media and the Moguls

  published August 13, 2002

  Michael Ovitz's interview in the August issue of Vanity Fair might have drawn more attention to what he calls the New York Times'... More >>

• Fluff Jews

  published August 6, 2002

  Jennifer Bleyer, the 26-year-old editor of Heeb, a magazine aimed at young Jewish hipsters, once boasted that it's easy to come up with... More >>

• Cause Unknown

  published July 30, 2002

  Last week, staffers at The National Law Journal were mystified to learn that Joseph Calve had resigned from his job. Calve, who was named... More >>

• Laundering the 'Truth'

  published July 23, 2002

  According to the back cover of Forbidden Truth, a bestseller published in France last fall and released in this country last week, a round... More >>

• Jacob's Ladder

  published July 16, 2002

  Blessed with smart and funny writers, a spike in Web traffic, and underwriting by Microsoft, Slate's new Editor in Chief, Jacob Weisberg,... More >>

• Crime Pays

  published June 18, 2002

  The last gasp of John Gotti gave the New York press a choice: They could glamorize a flashy, invincible gangster or expose a brutal thug who... More >>

• Is Nothing Sacred?

  published June 11, 2002

  With all eyes on the U.S. bishops meeting this week in Dallas, the Roman Catholic Church could use a better PR strategy. Over the last six months,... More >>