NY Times about to hire new biz reporter?

Jeff Bercovici on the Radar web site is reporting that the New York Times is about to hire Rebecca Dana, a reporter at the New York Observer, to cover the business of television.

Bercovici wrote, “Dana declined to comment, but one source notes the position she’s considering there would be covering television and emerging media for the business desk. While the Times already has two reporters on the TV beat, Bill Carter and Jacques Steinberg, both report to the culture desk.

“The mood at the Observer has been somewhat uneasy since Kushner, the 25-year-old son of developer Charles Kushner, acquired the paper for $10 million in August. Dana’s departure, if it comes to that, won’t help matters. Though a youngster herself, Dana has earned a formidable reputation in the two and half years since she graduated from Yale and landed at the Observer, by way of the Washington Post. ‘She’s incredibly wired for someone her age and has amazing sources,’ says one admiring network executive. ‘She’s a marquee talent. But, then, the Observer has always been a talent mill.'”

Read more here.

Dana also interned at The Times Picayune (2002) in New Orleans and the New York Times (2001). She was editor-in-chief and president of the Yale Daily News from October 2002 until October 2003. She also served as co-director of a weeklong program for high school journalists.