August is for Ankling

August is for Ankling

August is for Ankling

A mostly political weblog.
July 27 2009 5:24 PM

August is for Ankling

Monday, July 27, 2009  

Somebody's hiring. It's only Nick Denton. But a) he's hiring one of the best people away from the hapless doomed flailing   retooling LAT , and b) I hear he's paying MSM money, not blogger money. ... Hacks will play this as another sign of the Net's rise at the expense of dying print dailies, and they'll be right. ...   Update: Felix Salmon ... 2:46 P.M.

Advertisement

___________________________

Rattner Rehab: What Do You Call A Source Greaser When the Source You're Greasing Has Already Left His Job?  Micheline Maynard and Michael de la Merced's latest GM story has an "as told by Steve Rattner" quality to it. Not very informative--unless you read a lot into Rattner subtly distancing himself from the fate of the shiny new GM he was boasting about ("We're not going to fail")  only a few weeks ago:

Like Mr. Rattner , [ Jalopnik editor Ray] Wert is also concerned that G.M.'s deliberate and nonconfrontational corporate culture could stymie the changes that Mr. Henderson must pursue. [E.A.]

Or maybe the Times is just doing Rattner a favor by distancing him. ... Doesn't Maynard cover Detroit? Does she not have any inside-GM sources who might provide a skeptical take? ... P.S.: The other news tip to take away from the piece is that new GM CEO Fritz Henderson might not be GM CEO long.  The Obama task force didn't want him to begin with:

In truth, the task force had no interest in running G.M. But the only available alternative to Mr. Wagoner was Mr. Henderson, a lifelong G.M. employee, and he did not initially impress some task force members, according to administration officials involved in the discussions.

But they picked him anyway because they decided that after CEO Rick Wagoner's defenestration, G.M.'s employees "could not handle more uncertainty." ... But maybe they'll be able to handle it in a couple of months! ... P.P.S.: The Truth About Cars gives its not-uninformed, cynical view of Henderson's recent management 'shake-up.' ... 3:06 P.M.

___________________________