Best wishes to my buddy Bill Carter who announced today he is taking advantage of a generous buyout being offered by The New York Times. After distinguishing himself at the Baltimore Sun, Carter spent over 25 years covering television at The Times. Over that time he penned four books that are pretty much required reading for those of us on the TV beat, including the epic Letterman/Leno page-turner, The Late Shift.
His departure from The Times–part of an aggressive move to trim 100 employees in order to avoid another round of layoffs–will allow Bill to dive into more books. He already has another late night tome in the works.
Me, I’ll miss a good friend on TCA press tours, although…who knows? Even in these changing times, Carter will likely be a pretty tempting free agent for media companies looking to add a little gravitas, solid reporting and class.
