Gray lady gets new help

Three weeks ago, New York Times Chairman Arthur "Pinch" Sulzberger Jr told Wall St that the group was around three months away from appointing a new CEO. And unloved Arthur may prove to be one of Mark Thompson's biggest problems in his new, second career.

He's called "Pinch" in an ironic reference to his father, who was nicknamed "Punch" - and generally accepted to be a much tougher journalistic cookie; Junior has more of a reputation for job cutting. Junior's other nickname is Moose - because in conversations with New York Times staff, he produced a stuffed toy moose, to illustrate that the paper should always take on "the moose in the room" - this side of the pond, we prefer elephant. Arthur is only some five years older than Thommo - will he give the Englishman room to manage ?

• Spencer Stuart were the NYT's headhunters on this occasion, though they have also recently used Egon Zehnder to fill director vacancies.