All The Cash That's Fit To Print

Dear Arthur Sulzberger,

Please don't sell the Times.

Ignore those investment bankers, those media tycoons and those economists who say you're better off in someone's pocket. While the shares might not be looking good right now, you are an everlasting bastion of faith for many a citizen.

(Even those Entourage boys who wear "New York Crimes" t-shirts. They really do love you.)

True, there are many people who have given you flack over the years - for business, for editorial content, for pinching pennies - but as the most respectable (yes, I said it) and classy national paper on the market, it's in your best interest not to. Look at that Knight-Ridder mess and the Tribune Co. debacle. People are so busy negotiating and firing that no one reads the paper anymore.

Not even hometown fans. And where are you without them?

Pinch, Art, Sulz-dizzle - you've got a lot of competition on your heels, but you've been doing a great job so far keeping ahead of them with that website of yours. Journalism prides itself on its history, its dynasties. Businesses have short-term memory (think: Apple).

Keep doing what you're doing, and doing it well. When William Bird yells to sell, tell him to shove it. And for God's sake, don't forget that the Times itself is what your business portfolio is all about.

Love,
The Editorialiste.