Referring to Raines and Sulzberger, Andrew Sullivan asks, “Is there a company on the planet where an executive who had made such a decision would still be in place? If an Enron executive had made a similar decision, do you think Raines would be calling for him to stay in place?” It’s a good point and first raised, I believe by The New York Sun in an excellent May 12 editorial which opens by comparing the following quotes:
“[T]he move to hold top managers personally liable for any misrepresentations made to investors — which the new corporate oversight legislation also does — is a watershed worth celebrating…C.E.O’s will no longer be able to feign ignorance about the details of the companies’ accounting, as Jeffrey Skilling haughtily did early this year at a Congressional hearing on Enron’s implosion.”
—The New York Times, editorial, “Downsizing the Imperial C.E.O.,” August 9, 2002
“But Mr. Sulzberger emphasized that as The New York Times continues to examine how its employees and readers were betrayed, there will be no newsroom search for scapegoats. ‘The person who did this is Jayson Blair,’ he said. ‘Let’s not begin to demonize our executives — either the desk editors or the executive editor or, dare I say, the publisher.’”
—The New York Times, news article, “Times Reporter Who Resigned Leaves Long Trail of Deception,” May 11, 2003