hidden pixel

The New York Sun Information

The New York Sun is an online newspaper, formerly a weekday daily newspaper published in New York City from 2002–2008. When it debuted on April 16th, 2002, adopting the name, motto, and masthead of an otherwise unrelated earlier New York paper, The Sun (1833-1950), it became "the first general interest broadsheet newspaper to be launched in New York in two generations." The Sun ceased print publication on September 30, 2008,[1] amidst a historic week of financial losses in the American economy. However, the New York Sun website resumed activity on April 28, 2009.[2]

The Sun was founded by a group of investors including publishing magnate Conrad Black, with the intent of providing an alternative to The New York Times, featuring front page news pertaining to local and state events, in contrast to the Times' emphasis on national and international news.

The newspaper's president and editor-in-chief was Seth Lipsky, former editor of The Forward. Its managing editor was Ira Stoll, who also served as a company vice-president. The paper's motto, displayed on its masthead and website, was "It Shines For All," also the name of a blog[3] that was part of the Sun's online presence. Stoll had been a longtime critic of the Times in his media watchdog[blog smartertimes.com.[4] When smartertimes.com became defunct, its Web traffic was redirected to the Sun website.

Lipsky described the paper's editorial stance as supporting "limited government, individual liberty, constitutional fundamentals, equality under the law, economic growth ... standards in literature and culture, education."[5] The Sun's roster of columnists included many prominent conservative and neoconservative pundits, including William F. Buckley, Jr., Michael Barone, Daniel Pipes, and Mark Steyn. Another goal, said Lipsky, was "to seize the local beat from which The New York Times was retreating as it sought to become a national newspaper."[6]

The Sun was also "known for its pugnacious coverage of Jewish-related issues,"[7] and in particular was "a strong proponent of Israel's right to defend itself."[8] The Sun published from the Cary Building at Church Street and Chambers Street in lower Manhattan.

Contents

Features

The New York Sun was well known for its learned and serious arts coverage, which included such critics as Adam Kirsch on literature, Jay Nordlinger on classical music, Joel Lobenthal on dance, Lance Esplund, Maureen Mullarkey, and David Cohen on art, Francis Morrone on art and architecture, Otto Penzler on mystery writing, Eric Ormsby on poetry, Carl Rollyson on biography, Amanda Gordon as society editor and Will Friedwald on jazz. The Sun also received critical praise for its sports section, whose writers included Steven Goldman, Thomas Hauser, Sean Lahman, Tim Marchman, and John Hollinger. Its crossword puzzle, edited by Peter Gordon, has been called one of the two best in the United States.[9] It also published the first regular wine column in a New York newspaper, "Along the Wine Trail," written by G. Selmer Fougner.[10]

In its first edition, the paper carried the solution to the last crossword puzzle of the earlier Sun published in 1950.

Editorial stance

Stoll characterized the Sun's political orientation as "right-of-center",[8] and an associate of Conrad Black predicted in 2002 that the paper would be "certainly neoconservative in its views."[4] Editor-in-chief Lipsky described the agenda of the paper's prominent op-ed page as "limited government, individual liberty, constitutional fundamentals, equality under the law, economic growth ... standards in literature and culture, education."[11] The Sun's roster of columnists included many prominent conservative and neoconservative pundits, including William F. Buckley, Jr., Michael Barone, Daniel Pipes, and Mark Steyn.

The Sun was "known for its pugnacious coverage of Jewish-related issues";[12] in particular, it was "a strong proponent of Israel's right to defend itself."[8] It published articles by pro-Israel reporter Aaron Klein.

The paper courted controversy in 2003 with an unsigned February 6 editorial arguing that protesters against the Iraq war should be prosecuted for treason.[13][14]

According to Scott Sherman, writing in the "left-of-center" magazine The Nation (4/30/07), the Sun was "a broadsheet that injects conservative ideology into the country's most influential philanthropic, intellectual and media hub; a paper whose day-to-day coverage of New York City emphasizes lower taxes, school vouchers and free-market solutions to urban problems; a paper whose elegant culture pages hold their own against the Times in quality and sophistication; a paper that breaks news and crusades on a single issue; a paper that functions as a journalistic SWAT team against individuals and institutions seen as hostile to Israel and Jews; and a paper that unapologetically displays the scalps of its victims."[15]

In the same article, Mark Malloch Brown, Kofi Annan's chief of staff at the United Nations, described the Sun as "a pimple on the backside of American journalism." According to Sherman, Brown "accepts that the paper's obsession with the UN translates into influence... he admitted the Sun "does punch way above its circulation number, on occasion." He goes on to say, "Clearly amongst its minuscule circulation were a significant number of diplomats. And so it did at times act as some kind of rebel house paper inside the UN. It fed the gossip mills and what was said in the cafeterias."[15] Brown's insult was in the context of the Sun's reporting of the UN's central role in the Saddam Hussein Oil-for-Food scandal.

Adweek columnist Tom Messner called the Sun "the best paper in New York" (5/14/07), noting that "The New York Sun is a conservative paper, but it gets the respect of the left. The Nation's April 30 issue contains an article on the Sun's rise by Scott Sherman that is as balanced an article as I have ever read in the magazine (not a gibe; you don't read The Nation for balance)."[16]

Catholic commentator Richard John Neuhaus, writing in First Things, described the Sun as a paper that had, “made itself nearly indispensable for New Yorkers” [17]

Circulation

The Audit Bureau of Circulations confirmed that in its first six months of publication the Sun had an average circulation of just under 18,000.[18] By 2005 the paper reported an estimated circulation of 45,000.[19] In December 2005 the Sun withdrew from the Audit Bureau of Circulations to join the Certified Audit of Circulations, whose other New York clients are the free papers The Village Voice and amNewYork, and began an aggressive campaign of free distribution in select neighborhoods.[20][21] As of 2007 the paper claimed a readership of 150,000.[22]

The Sun's online edition was accessible for free since August 2006.[23]

While the Sun claimed "150,000 of New York City's Most Influential Readers Every Day," according to April 2007 article in The Nation, its [the Sun's] own audit indicated that "the Sun is selling 13,211 hard copies a day and giving away more than 85,000. (By contrast, the Daily News sells about 700,000 copies a day.) In an attempt to lasso subscribers in certain New York ZIP codes, the Sun offered free subscriptions for a full year, an unusual way for a newspaper to build circulation."[15]

The Sun acquired the web address www.LatestPolitics.com in 2007.[24]

Website

Despite the closure of the newspaper, the New York Sun website renewed activity on April 28, 2009,[2][25] prompting some observers to consider the possible implications.[2][26][27] Michael Calderone of Politico quoted owner Seth Lipsky as saying not to read too much into the initial items since "...a business plan for the site is still in formation," and "...these are just some very, very early bulbs of spring (or late winter)."[27] Since that time, the website has continued to publish editorials, op-ed contributions and other content at irregular intervals.[28]

Financial problems and end of print run

In a letter to readers published on the front page of the 2008-09-04 edition, Lipsky announced that the paper would "cease publication at the end of September unless we succeed in our efforts to find additional financial backing."[29][30]

Footnotes

  1. ^ The Arc of the Sun, New York Sun, September 30, 2008, ISBN 0914381059, http://www.nysun.com/editorials/the-arc-of-the-sun/86865/, retrieved 2008-09-30
  2. ^ a b c Kate Klonick (April 28, 2009). "Cheney and The New York Sun Rise Again". True/Slant. Lewis DVorkin. http://trueslant.com/kateklonick/2009/04/28/some-conservatives-actually-want-cheney-for-president/. Retrieved July 18, 2010.
  3. ^ blog
  4. ^ a b Jeff Bercovici (November 30, 2001), A Sun rises in New York—But will we need a flashlight to find it?, Media Life, http://www.medialifemagazine.com/news2001/nov01/nov26/5_fri/news3friday.html, retrieved 2008-02-04
  5. ^ http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2002/04/25/nysun/index.html (requires registration to access)
  6. ^ All the News That's Fit to Subsidize, Seth Lipsky, Wall Street Journal, OCTOBER 22, 2009
  7. ^ Nathaniel Popper (November 21, 2003) (– Scholar search), Hollinger Woes Casting a Pall Over Future of Neocon Papers, Forward, archived from the original on 2007-09-29, http://web.archive.org/web/20070929123531/http://www.forward.com/articles/hollinger-woes-casting-a-pall-over-future-of-neoco/, retrieved 2008-02-04
  8. ^ a b c Meghan Clyne (July 19, 2004), Bright Light in a Big City, National Review Online, http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/clyne200407190902.asp, retrieved 2008-02-04
  9. ^ Gaffney, Matt (2006-07-12). "The Ultimate Crossword Smackdown. Who writes better puzzles, humans or computers?". Slate. http://www.slate.com/id/2145623/. Retrieved 2006-10-26.
  10. ^ Frank J. Prial, Decantations: Reflections on Wine by the New York Times Wine Critic, St. Martin's Griffin, 2002, p16
  11. ^ http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2002/04/25/nysun/index.html (requires registration to access)
  12. ^ Nathaniel Popper (November 21, 2003) (– Scholar search), Hollinger Woes Casting a Pall Over Future of Neocon Papers, Forward, archived from the original on 2007-09-29, http://web.archive.org/web/20070929123531/http://www.forward.com/articles/hollinger-woes-casting-a-pall-over-future-of-neoco/, retrieved 2008-02-04
  13. ^ Timothy Noah (February 11, 2003), Dissent Equals Treason, Slate, http://www.slate.com/id/2078455/, retrieved 2008-02-04
  14. ^ Eugene Volokh (February 7, 2003), The Right to Oppose, National review Online, http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/comment-evolokh020703.asp, retrieved 2008-02-04
  15. ^ a b c Sherman, Scott (2007-4-30). "Sun-rise in New York". The Nation.
  16. ^ Tom Messner (May 14, 2007) (– Scholar search), Art & Commerce: Volume 1, Number 1, Ad Week, archived from the original on September 27, 2007, http://web.archive.org/web/20070927213156/http://www.adweek.com/aw/magazine/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003584574, retrieved 2008-02-04
  17. ^ First Things: On the Square » Blog Archive » RJN: 2.24.06 Adam Kirsch is books…
  18. ^ Sun Reports Circulation, The New York Times, December 23, 2002, http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C04EFDB173CF930A15751C1A9649C8B63, retrieved 2008-02-04
  19. ^ Darker cloud over the New York Sun, Media Life, May 12, 2005, http://www.medialifemagazine.com/News2005/may05/may09/4_thurs/news2thursday.html, retrieved 2008-02-04
  20. ^ Sun Launching New Circulation Drive, Withdraws From ABC, The New York Sun, December 23, 2005, http://www.nysun.com/article/24943?page_no=2, retrieved 2008-02-04
  21. ^ Groundhog Day Revelation: 12 Weeks of 'Sun', Gawker, February 2, 2006, http://www.gawker.com/news/metro/groundhog-day-revelation-12-weeks-of-sun-152436.php, retrieved 2008-02-04
  22. ^ Scott Sherman (April 30, 2007), Sun-rise in New York, The Nation, http://www.thenation.com/article/sun-rise-new-york, retrieved 2010-07-17
  23. ^ New York Sun Sees Light, Makes Web Free, mediabistro.com, August 8, 2006, http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlny/newspapers/new_york_sun_sees_light_makes_web_free_41612.asp, retrieved 2008-02-04
  24. ^ http://www.mediainfo.com/eandp/departments/online/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003584849 (requires registration to access)
  25. ^ Lipsky, Seth (April 28, 2009). "Sound Familiar?". The New York Sun. http://www.nysun.com/editorials/sound-familiar/86869/. Retrieved July 18, 2010. "Our own view is that Mr. Cheney just might have beaten Mr. Obama,..."
  26. ^ Zachary M. Seward (April 29, 2009). "Is that the defunct New York Sun peeking over the digital horizon?". Nieman Journalism Lab. http://www.niemanlab.org/2009/04/is-that-the-defunct-new-york-sun-peeking-over-the-digital-horizon/. Retrieved July 18, 2010.
  27. ^ a b Calderone, Michael (April 29, 2009). "N.Y. Sun considers business plan for site". Politico (Arlington, VA: Robert L. Allbritton). http://www.politico.com/blogs/michaelcalderone/0409/NY_Sun_considers_business_model_for_site_.html?showall. Retrieved July 17, 2010. "The New York Sun, which closed up shop in September, has been publishing a bit lately online,..."
  28. ^ "Editorials/Opinion". The New York Sun. Seth Lipsky. http://www.nysun.com/op-ed/. Retrieved July 18, 2010.
  29. ^ Seth Lipsky (September 4, 2008), The Future of the Sun, New York Sun, http://www.nysun.com/editorials/the-future-of-the-sun/85129/, retrieved 2008-09-04
  30. ^ Perez-Pena, Richard (September 4, 2008), New York Sun May Close if Millions Aren't Found. The New York Times. Retrieved on September 4, 2008.

External links

New York City portal
Journalism portal

Categories: Defunct New York City newspapers | Publications established in 2002 | Publications disestablished in 2008 | The New York Sun people

 

The above information uses material from Wikipedia and is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Some facts may not have been fully verified for accuracy. [Disclaimers]
This page was last archived by our server on Mon May 28 16:11:43 2012.
Displaying this page or its contents does not use any Wikimedia Foundation's resources.
The owners of this site proudly support the Wikimedia Foundation.

More Information Results for "The New York Sun"
[Hide]▼
'The New York Sun' Images
[Hide]▲