Petrelis Files

NYT's Altman Shills for Lasker Foundation?

Byron Calame
The Public Editor
public@nytimes.com
The New York Times

Dear Mr. Calame:

The Times on September 18 ran a very glowing story by Lawrence K. Altman on the winners of this year's Lasker Awards for scientific achievement and I have several concerns about it that I wish to share with you.

First of all, no one outside of the Lasker Foundation, which bestows the awards, or the winners, is either mentioned or quoted in the story, which was 24 column inches long, leading me to qualify the article as nothing more really than a slight reworking of the foundation's press release about the awards.

Second, the Times didn't disclose that former Times reporter Martin A. Tolchin is a member of the foundation's board of directors.

Third, I think the Times should have informed readers that the paper was a Lasker Award recipient in 2000 for its coverage of medical and science issues, and that Mr. Altman was singled-out for exemplary reporting in the foundation's news release about the 2000 awards.

Finally, I'm not sure why the Times thought the Lasker Awards this year warranted major coverage on the National Report page of the Sunday edition. Seems to me the story was much more suited for the Science Times section of Tuesday's editions instead.

I wonder if you feel the Times should have reported opinions of people not connected with the Lasker Foundation regarding the awards this year and if the paper had any duty to disclose information about a former Times correspondent on the board and that the Times's award from the foundation.

Regards,
Michael Petrelis
San Francisco, CA

cc:
Lawrence K. Altman, altman@nytimes.com
David Corcoran, corcoran@nytimes.com