The Right Person for the Job

The Times uses a little ink this morning to write a friendly profile of David Remnick, editor at the New Yorker. It's worth reading for just for the pointlessly bland praise from Si Newhouse about halfway through the article.

Remnick has led a renaissance at the magazine built solidly on old-fashioned show leather. Here, an admirable look at his style of leadership:

Mr. Remnick’s taste in journalism was formed early, as he grew up in Hillsdale, N.J., reading The Village Voice at the local 7-Eleven. His management style was formed at The Washington Post, where he went to work after college. He became its Moscow correspondent before leaving for The New Yorker. It was Ben Bradlee’s Post, where Mr. Bradlee would make daily rounds, growling greetings at reporters.

“Most of us who were young saw Bradlee the way one saw a great orca in a fish tank,” Mr. Remnick said.

Like Mr. Bradlee, Mr. Remnick spends his day walking around. “He makes a point of making a circuit around the floor every single day, dropping in on people,” said Pamela Maffei McCarthy, deputy editor, “during which he acquires a great deal of information about what’s going on here.”

Making it Look Easy at the New Yorker - The New York Times