The Trust: The Private and Powerful Family Behind The New York Times By Susan E. Tifft
A fascanating history of the NY Times. Interesting tidbits were:
- The family was Jewish but so afraid of being dubbed a Jewish paper that they barely covered the holocaust - most stories about the mass graves were buried on page 7 and didn't mention the fact that the victims were mostly Jews.
- Adolf Ochs, the first of the family to own the times, bought it completely on borrowed money. He was so in debt it took him 20 years to truly own it. That guy had some large cojones...
- The author really played up the stiff competition each generation for publishership. Seems as the the names (ie Arthur Sulzberger) always won.. 9780316836319 Page 46 (my book)
In the end Adolph (the publisher) decided he liked his own invention [catchphrase] best and decided to keep it. In early February, 1897 “All the News That’s Fit to Print” appeared for the first time in the upper-left-hand corner of the front page where it remains today.
This book is the history of the New York Times starting when Adolph Simon Ochs purchased it in 1896. At that stage the newspaper (then written as The New-York Times) was failing. Adolph turned that around and made it a success and kept it as a quality newspaper as opposed to the bulk of the New York sensationalist tabloids of that era. One of his most risky and fruitful ventures was to lower the price from three cents to one cent! This increased both circulation and advertising.
Adolph Ochs and his spouse Effie Marian Wise had only one child Iphigene, who married Arthur Hays Sulzberger in 1917. Although Iphigene never became publisher, she was the ruling matriarch of the New York Times. She lived until the age of 97 (she died in 1990). Iphigene was liberal in outlook and her influence was felt through several generations of publishers - on her husband Arthur Hays Sulzberger (publisher from 1935-61), the short publishing reign of her son-in-law Orvil E. Dryfoos (publisher 1961-63), her son Arthur Ochs Sulzberger (commonly known as “Punch”, publisher 1963-92), and her grandson Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr who ended his reign in 2017 – and gave it to his son – yes, you guessed it, his name too is Arthur. (Note that this book was published in 1999; I looked the last couple of publishing years on the internet.)
As all this aptly demonstrates the New York Times is a family run newspaper. As the authors point out it has the features of both a corporate enterprise and a monarchy.
In many ways the Ochs-Sulzbergers over the years have tried to be as inauspicious as possible. They kept their Jewish roots hidden, Adolph in particular never gave prominence to Jewish issues in his newspaper.
I did find the authors continuing emphasis on the “modesty” of the family clan through the decades over the top. They lived with the ruling matriarch Iphigene in a large estate, Hillandale, in Connecticut and had nice apartments in Manhattan with servants. They were a part of the New York City elites. Punch Sulzberger had a dominant position on the board of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
This is a family history where we get loads of information on marriages, births and deaths – and affairs and transgressions. Too much I felt. I would have liked more chapters like the one on the Pentagon Papers. The far-flung international reporters of the Times get little mention (except for Cyrus Sulzberger). The cataclysm of the Civil Rights era in the 1950’s and 1960’s is not mentioned at all – even though they were often front-page news. It would have been interesting to know how the publishers and their families reacted to these events and the impact they had on the New York Times.
There is little on the rise of the woman’s movement and the Vietnam war protests that occurred across the United States.
There is much as to how the newspaper evolved in a mechanical sense. Up to the 1960’s there were only two sections – and then special feature sections were introduced. There were many labour strikes where the newspaper did not publish over several weeks. Orvil E. Dryfoos, in 1963, suffered a fatal heart attack due to the stress from this labour dispute.
This book was published in 1999 so we do not get to know the full brunt of the internet revolution on the New York Times.
Page 607
The physical embodiment of the company’s soaring fortune was the edition of Sunday, September 13, 1987 – at 1,602 pages, the largest in Times history.
Even though there is a hereditary process to the main management position of publisher (and other significant positions as well) let it be known that the family members (mostly male it would seem) undergo ample training at various posts in the business. They get to know their empire from bottom to top. Even though the family is tolerant, woe betide an employee (in particular a high-level one) who does not cooperate in this training of family members. It will be compelling how this monarchy continues to rule The New York Times as the family tree has greatly expanded from what it was in the mid-twentieth century.
And as the authors state the importance of the voice of The New York Times continues to be felt over the years.
Page 597
In 1976, when U.S. News and World Report had published a cover story on the nations top thirty leaders, headlined “Who Runs America” President Gerald Ford had come in first, Punch [The New York Times publisher] at number thirteen. When the survey was repeated in 1982, Punch was still ranked thirteen, but everyone else above him had changed.
… Presidents had their moments on the national stage and world stage, but The New York Times remained a constant, a power unto itself. 9780316836319 I just finished this today... fantastic book! Very interesting and detailed history of The New York Times. It's not a page-turner by any means, seeing as it's almost 800 pages long... I kept picking it up and coming back to it. But it was a very engaging read that certainly didn't FEEL 800 pages long! A great look into the family that built this newspaper empire. Lots of interesting tidbits and stories about the family, but it wasn't scandalous or gossipy. I'm so glad I found this book and bought it at a book sale! One of the best $1 I ever spent! 9780316836319 We tend to take for granted the New York Times. I at least never knew much of anything about the Ochs family. Adolph Ochs start with the Chattanooga Time, my hometown newspaper, and his purchase of the New York Times in 1896 is a family history rich in detail. Reading their history is also the reading of American history during those turbulent years. What a great read. 9780316836319 The New York Times has been owned and operated by one family for over a century and for four generations. As I was reading this, I happened upon an article discussing the next publisher (another family member). If you like hearing about and reading about the Bush Family or the Kennedy Dynasty, this is a good book for you. If you enjoy reading about how a common, every-day product like a newspaper became such an iconic part of America and American history, this book is for you. 9780316836319
A National Book Critics Circle Award finalist, The Trust is the eye-opening biography (Newsweek) of the Ochses and the Sulzbergers, the families that have owned and run The New York Times for more than a century.
Throughout the tumultuous American century, a single family controlled America's newspaper of record, setting the agenda not only for the New York Times but for the nation as well. In a narrative that dramatically, evokes world events, internecine struggles, and both the privilege and the burden of wealth and influence, The Trust reveals for the first time the extraordinary story of one of America's most powerful families.
A lively, lavishly detailed epic...The authors have the journalist's instinct for telling the right story. --Ron Chernow, New York Times Book Review The Trust: The Private and Powerful Family Behind The New York Times
An in depth history of the New York Times which focuses on family dynamics & the business side of the paper. Those who already believe that Pinch Sulzberger is an idiot will find little to dissuade them here. 9780316836319 A thorough history of the Grey Lady and the family that controls her. The authors take their time walking through the century of ownership, taking detours through the various family members' lives, quirks and peccadilloes. While it's an interesting read, it's a bit long and may not be of interest to all. 9780316836319 It's a good book, and it's extremely thorough. I now know more about the Ochs-Sulzberger clan than I really wanted. 9780316836319 For us NY Times junkies only, but wonderful! Origins & intrigues of the Ochs family & descendants. 9780316836319 An amazing book! Hands-down one of my favorite books--enthralling and very interesting. 9780316836319
summary The Trust: The Private and Powerful Family Behind The New York Times
