Conflicts of Interest

NYT: Frank Rich To Be Consultant for HBO

Frank Rich, an Op-Ed columnist for The New York Times, has signed on with HBO as a creative consultant to help develop new programming, while still writing his weekly column, HBO and Times executives said Wednesday.

He will be barred from writing in his column, which deals primarily with politics, about either HBO or its parent company, Time Warner, Mr. Rich and Times editors said....

Andrew Rosenthal, the editorial page editor of The Times, said that he had signed off on Mr. Rich’s deal with HBO, and that the top newsroom editors and the publisher, Arthur Sulzberger Jr., were informed and did not raise any objections. “There was no concern that there was a conflict of interest, because he no longer has any connection to news coverage of HBO or any related entity,” he said.

Glad to see Rosenthal and Pinch on top of this. I wonder why they weren't as vigilant guardians of the NYT's integrity when Judy Miller was consulting for Dick Cheny or Phil Taubman was consulting for Condi Rice.