Why the NYTimes covers the media business thoroughly

Bruce Headlam, the media and marketing editor at the New York Times, explains in a Q&A with readers why the paper pays so much attention to the media business in its business section.

Headlam said, “The worlds of media and advertising tend to create — ­ or at least elevate — ­ big, volatile personalities that make for good newspaper copy, and when I’ve got a columnist like David Carr ­ — who’s not lacking in the personality department himself — ­ it makes for a terrific mix. And I would be dishonest if I didn’t admit to a certain amount of editorial narcissism: The Times is part of the media business, which finds itself endlessly fascinating.

“Does the wider world care? I hope so. While I’m editing the Monday Business section (along with my wonderful deputy Jennifer Kingson), I typically imagine two kinds of readers: the inner reader and the outer reader. The inner reader is someone either employed or deeply involved in the media or technology businesses and the outer reader is an interested spectator. When the section works well, we hit the perfect balance between those readers’ interests. If the casual reader isn’t drawn into any of the articles or finds the section too ‘inside baseball,’ then I haven’t done my job.

“It’s a job worth doing because — ­ narcissism aside — the media business is pretty interesting right now. Ten years ago, the industry seemed firmly in the control of the men (and they were almost all men) who built mighty conglomerates like Time-Warner and Viacom. Now because of the disruptive power of technologies like the Web, those same companies are nervously trying to figure out how to appeal to the typical 18-year-old who won’t pay to download a 50 Cent CD, won’t watch “The Officeâ€? when it airs on Thursday (or might not even watch on TV), and would rather get his news from a blogger than from his local paper.”

Read more here.