WAR OF WORDS: In its Aug. 30 issue, The New Yorker ran a piece by investigative reporter Jane Mayer that detailed the political funding habits of Charles and David Koch, the billionaire brothers who own the second-largest private company in the U.S., Koch Industries. The article, which asserted the brothers have helped bankroll portions of the Tea Party movement (a claim they deny), picked up plenty of buzz and earned Mayer interviews on “The Rachel Maddow Show” and NPR’s “Fresh Air.” It also caused umbrage at the offices of New York magazine, which had run its own profile of David Koch on July 25. Mayer’s piece borrowed a few quotes from the earlier article (Koch granted New York contributing editor Andrew Goldman access, but barred Mayer), and referred to the New York piece as “admiring.”
Them are fightin’ words among journalists. A day after The New Yorker’s story hit newsstands, New York deputy editor Jon Gluck sent an e-mail (on which he cc’ed New York editor in chief Adam Moss) to New Yorker editor David Remnick that called Mayer’s article “compelling,” but also took issue with her treatment of his writer’s piece. “Goldman’s story, like Mayer’s, documented the unvarnished truth about the Kochs’ political activity, and made plain the connection to the tea-partiers that Koch is denying,” Gluck wrote. “Although there is nothing wrong with a positive story, this was not one. Mayer’s characterization of Goldman’s work is false, at best.”
A New York spokeswoman, who provided the letter to WWD upon request, said Friday the magazine had not heard back. A New Yorker spokeswoman said the magazine had no comment.
— Matthew Lynch
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August 30, 2010
Editors Clash Over the Kochs... Chasing Those Fashion Ads...
New Yorker reporter Jane Mayer described the New York profile of Charles and David Koch as "admiring." Them are fightin’ words.
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