Voting Station

A.M. Rosenthal

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Commentator

The Resume

    (May 2, 1922-May 10, 2006)
    Born in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada
    Birth name was Abraham Michael Rosenthal
    Served at the New York Times as a reporter (1943-67), metropolitan editor (1954-67), assistant managing editor (1967-69), managing editor (1970-77) and executive editor (1977-88)
    After retiring as editor, became a columnist for the New York Times (1988-99) and New York Daily News (1999-2004)
    Received the US Presidential Medal of Freedom (2002)

Why he might be annoying:

    The New York Times had discovered Iran-Contra a year before any other paper, but Rosenthal reportedly killed the story because of his friendship with Ronald Reagan.
    He refused to let the Times use 'gay' for homosexual or the title 'Ms.' years after they became standard everywhere else.
    Because of his homophobia, Times reporters rarely covered gay issues.
    He terrorized his staff and held grudges for years.
    After he was forced out by mandatory retirement, publisher Arthur Sulzberger advised incoming editor Max Frankel, 'Make the newsroom a happy place again.'
    His crotchety 'On My Mind' column was nicknamed 'Out of My Mind' by other journalists.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He missed a year of high school after developing the bone disease osteomyelitis; although it was successfully treated at the Mayo Clinic, he suffered leg pains the rest of his life.
    The Polish government complained, 'You have written very deeply and in detail about the internal situation, party and leadership matters' and expelled him from the country; he then won a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting (1960).
    He overhauled the Times' stodgy image without undermining its reputation for first-class journalism.
    Although he personally supported the Vietnam War, he played a key role in having the Times publish the Pentagon Papers that eroded public support for the war.
    Ben Bradlee of the Washington Post called him 'a weird bastard, but a whiz of a newspaper man.'

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 10 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 9 Votes: 88.89% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 6 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 4 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 8 Votes: 62.50% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 17 Votes: 58.82% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 7 Votes: 42.86% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 14 Votes: 64.29% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 32 Votes: 65.62% Annoying