NYT Freelancer Gets the Axe

Travel Blog  •  Eva Holland  •  10.27.09 | 10:17 AM ET

Last week’s “swag orgy” controversy has ground to a conclusion: Freelancer Mike Albo has had his shopping column cut by the New York Times after violating the paper’s ethics agreement. Weirdly, Gawker—the blog that helped force the Times’ hand—now apparently thinks the firing is too harsh.

I’ll give Mike Albo the last word once again. He told New York Magazine: “I look forward to trying on cashmere sweaters I can’t afford for other publications.”

Tags: Journalism, Media Addict, Travel Writing, Travel Writing Ethics, News and Briefs

Eva Holland is co-editor of World Hum. She is a former associate editor at Up Here and Up Here Business magazines, and a contributor to Vela. She's based in Canada's Yukon territory.


1 Comment for NYT Freelancer Gets the Axe

Lola 10.27.09 | 12:18 PM ET

Quite harsh. The travel writing climate is changing aggressively. Don’t know how long the NYT can keep up/sustain that absurd policy for even potential freelancers.

Unless they FBI-fact check every writer they publish, which I doubt they do. He isn’t even a staffer, he’s a freelancer.

That policy was probably created decades ago but truly needs to be re-examined to keep up with the times.

Commenting is not available in this weblog entry.