Not The New York Times
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Not The New York Times'' was a parody newspaper of ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' created by Christopher Cerf,
George Plimpton George Ames Plimpton (March 18, 1927 – September 25, 2003) was an American writer. He is widely known for his sports writing and for helping to found ''The Paris Review'', as well as his patrician demeanor and accent. He was also known for " ...
, Freddy Plimpton, Rusty Unger, and
Tony Hendra Anthony Christopher "Tony" Hendra (10 July 1941 – 4 March 2021) was an English satirist, actor and writer who worked mostly in the United States. Educated at St Albans School (where he was a classmate of Stephen Hawking) and at St John's Col ...
, and published during the
1978 New York City newspaper strike The 1978 New York City newspaper strike ran from August 10 to November 5, 1978, a total of 88 days. It affected the New York City newspaper industry shutting down all three of the city's three major newspapers: ''The New York Times'', ''New York ...
.


Background

Due to a multi-union
labor strike Strike action, also called labor strike, labour strike, or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became common during the I ...
by pressmen that had halted production of ''The New York Times'', the ''
New York Daily News The New York ''Daily News'', officially titled the ''Daily News'', is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, NJ. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in ta ...
'', and the ''
New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...
'', the ''Times'' had not been published since August 9, 1978. The strike had occurred due to the three newspapers each issuing new work rulings which significantly decreased requirements concerning the level of staffing. More than 10,000 workers had walked out during the strike. On October 5, the ''Post'' resumed publication when
Rupert Murdoch Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian-born American business magnate. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of local, national, and international publishing outlets around the world, including ...
, its owner and publisher, had signed an agreement with the pressmen; however, the ''Daily News'' and the ''Times'' were still not being produced.


Production

In September 1978, a plan to create ''Not The New York Times'' was developed by multiple writers. The newspaper was co-created by Christopher Cerf,
George Plimpton George Ames Plimpton (March 18, 1927 – September 25, 2003) was an American writer. He is widely known for his sports writing and for helping to found ''The Paris Review'', as well as his patrician demeanor and accent. He was also known for " ...
, Freddy Plimpton, Rusty Unger, and
Tony Hendra Anthony Christopher "Tony" Hendra (10 July 1941 – 4 March 2021) was an English satirist, actor and writer who worked mostly in the United States. Educated at St Albans School (where he was a classmate of Stephen Hawking) and at St John's Col ...
. Cerf was a songwriter for ''
Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) a ...
'', George Plimpton had co-founded ''
The Paris Review ''The Paris Review'' is a quarterly English-language literary magazine established in Paris in 1953 by Harold L. Humes, Peter Matthiessen, and George Plimpton. In its first five years, ''The Paris Review'' published works by Jack Kerouac, Philip ...
'', while Hendra was an editor at '' National Lampoon'', and Unger was a columnist for ''
The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the crea ...
''. Unger had suggested the idea of a parody of ''The New York Times'' to Cerf, and Cerf told him that he had discussed the same project with Hendra. Cerf had admired
Victor Navasky Victor Saul Navasky (born July 5, 1932) is an American journalist, editor and academic. He is publisher emeritus of ''The Nation'' and George T. Delacorte Professor Emeritus of Professional Practice in Magazine Journalism at Columbia University. H ...
's parodies of the ''New York Post'' and the ''New York Daily News'', and Cerf, Hendra, and Unger decided to contact writers that they knew in order to help work on the newspaper. The first person that Unger contacted was Veronica Geng, a writer for ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'', who contributed to the paper. Frances FitzGerald, a writer who worked on the project, recalled that Unger would call people and ask, "We don't know what we're doing exactly, but come help us." Cerf said that the "real fun" began when they discovered that staff who worked at the ''Times'' wanted to work on the parody as well. Steven Crist, then a
copy boy A copy boy is a typically young and junior worker on a newspaper. The job involves taking typed stories from one section of a newspaper to another. According to Bruce Guthrie, the former editor-in-chief of the ''Herald Sun'' who began work there ...
at the ''Times'' who had begun trying to make a living through
betting on horse racing Betting on horse racing or horse betting commonly occurs at many horse races. Modern horse betting started in Great Britain in the early 1600s during the reign of King James I. Gamblers can stake money on the final placement of the horses taking pa ...
during the strike, joined the project. Crist would later become a
horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...
writer for the ''Times''. Richard Yeend, a designer at the ''Times'', said, "I had no food at the time. I figured this might be an opportunity to have a free meal. I learned that was exactly what this was." FitzGerald contacted Kevin Buckley, a
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
correspondent for ''
Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...
'', who joined the project as well. Glenn Collins, an editor and reporter at the ''Times'', also participated in the parody. Numerous other writers took part in the production of the newspaper.
Carl Bernstein Carl Milton Bernstein ( ; born February 14, 1944) is an American investigative journalist and author. While a young reporter for ''The Washington Post'' in 1972, Bernstein was teamed up with Bob Woodward, and the two did much of the original new ...
, a reporter known for his work on the
Watergate scandal The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon from 1972 to 1974 that led to Nixon's resignation. The scandal stemmed from the Nixon administration's continual ...
, and then-wife
Nora Ephron Nora Ephron ( ; May 19, 1941 – June 26, 2012) was an American journalist, writer, and filmmaker. She is best known for her romantic comedy films and was nominated three times for the Writers Guild of America Award and the Academy Award f ...
, joined the project. Collins called the writers a "genius gang of pranksters". Other people who participated in the production included Michael Arlen,
Jerzy Kosinski Jerzy is the Polish version of the masculine given name George. The most common nickname for Jerzy is Jurek (), which may also be used as an official first name. Occasionally the nickname Jerzyk may be used, which means "swift" in Polish. People ...
, and
Terry Southern Terry Southern (May 1, 1924 – October 29, 1995) was an American novelist, essayist, screenwriter, and university lecturer, noted for his distinctive satirical style. Part of the Paris postwar literary movement in the 1950s and a companion to ...
. The contents of the newspaper were written by different authors. Geng authored a seven-paragraph piece written entirely in
bureaucratese Officialese, bureaucratese, or governmentese is language that sounds official. It is the "language of officialdom". Officialese is characterized by a preference for wordy, long sentences; a preference for complex words, code words or buzzwords ove ...
titled "
Carter Carter(s), or Carter's, Tha Carter, or The Carter(s), may refer to: Geography United States * Carter, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Carter, Mississippi, an unincorporated community * Carter, Montana, a census-designated place * Carter, ...
Forestalls Efforts to Defuse Discord Policy", which was printed on the front page.


Contents

''Not The New York Times'' was made up of 24 pages, and included 3 sections, 24 fake advertisements, 73 satire articles and 155 fake news briefs. The newspaper carried the slogan "All the News Not Fit to Print", as a parody of the ''Times'' motto "All the News That's Fit to Print". The names of its sections were parodies of the ''Times'' content as well, with "The Having Section" parodying "The Living Section", and "SprotsMonday" parodying the ''Times'' sports section, which on Mondays was titled "SportsMonday". The weather notice included the announcement "Mostly present today, still there tomorrow".


Release, reception, & legacy

''The New York Times'' resumed publication along with the ''Daily News'' on November 6, 1978, after 88 days of non-production, a new record. The newspapers reached an agreement with the unions representing the pressmen.
Jim Romenesko Jim Romenesko (born September 16, 1953) is an American journalist in Evanston, Illinois. His eponymous blog provides daily news, commentary, and insider information about journalism and media. Romenesko also ran the blog ''Starbucks Gossip'', which ...
of ''
Poynter Poynter is an English occupational surname for the maker of cord that fastened doublet with hose (clothing). The name derives from the Middle English "poynte" and originally from the Latin "puncta", meaning to pierce. Poynter may also be an Anglici ...
'' praised the newspaper as the best parody of ''The New York Times''. Jim Dwyer stated that the parody set the modern standard for fake news, and called it a "pitch-perfect replica, spiritually and physically". Since the release of ''Not The New York Times'', multiple parodies of the ''Times'' and other newspapers have been created. On April 1, 1982, a parody of ''
The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'' titled ''Off The Wall Street Journal'', was released, with many of the same writers from ''Not The New York Times'' also participating, including Hendra. On November 12, 2008, a spoof of the ''Times'' titled ''New York Times Special Edition'' was produced and distributed by the activist group
The Yes Men The Yes Men are a culture jamming activist duo and network of supporters created by Jacques Servin and Igor Vamos. Through various actions, the Yes Men primarily aim to raise awareness about problematic social and political issues. To date, th ...
. On May 5, 2011, a parody website of the ''Times'', called "The Final Edition", was launched by Hendra, who facetiously thanked the ''Times'' for "being so ridiculously easy to parody". The newspaper is available in
Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
's Seymour B. Durst Collection of Historical Manuscripts in the "Documents & Newspapers, 1764–1990" section.


References


External links


charitybailey.org
has a link to a full PDF. {{The New York Times, state=collapsed parodies Newspapers established in 1978