MarketWatch columnist Jon Friedman talked to New York Times editor Bill Keller about criticism of the Times, and Keller revealed his bold response:
Keller, 58, employed a not-so-novel way of coping with the naysayers: don’t read them — or, at least, not too often. But that restraint requires the discipline of a dieter who vows to eat only one potato chip in a bag at a time. “I’ve dialed back on my consumption of blogs,” Keller said (somewhat proudly). It has been challenging because, he noted, like most journalists, he is “competitive and thin-skinned.” His policy is to “distinguish between the serious stuff and the not-serious stuff,” he said of the criticism. “I don’t let it get to me.”
Perhaps this policy of tuning out critics explains why Keller is thinking about phasing out the position of public editor.