June 5, 2015 --

Dear Margaret Sullivan,

Your May 31 column, "Races Under Microscope. Reporters, Too." began with this sentence: "Seventeen months before the presidential election, The Times is already in a full-court press on campaign coverage...." SEVENTEEN MONTHS BEFORE ELECTION DAY!!!

Your column indicated that Carolyn Ryan, in charge of campaign coverage, "is more than satisfied with the results so far." SEVENTEEN MONTHS BEFORE ELECTION DAY!!! You also mention that Times readers are unhappy "with some aspects of what they're seeing." SEVENTEEN MONTHS BEFORE ELECTION DAY!!!

Apparently this unhappiness does not extend to the focus, at the Times, on campaign coverage SEVENTEEN MONTHS BEFORE ELECTION DAY!!! -- rather than coverage of government.

It has been said of President Obama that he prefers campaigning to governing. The New York Times seems to prefer reporting on presidential campaigns, rather than on the operation of government. But, then, covering government would mean placing President Obama "Under Microscope." The media can't have that, can it?

Sincerely,

D. R. Zukerman, prop.
Lonely Pamphleteer Review