The hand that fed him ?

New York Times CEO Mark Thompson, a man with form for biting journalists, now finds himself in strategic battle with BBC News. Let's take as evidence two quotes from separate FT articles this week.

Mr Thompson, who started at the BBC in 1979 as a production trainee, “still considers himself a journalist”, one person close to him said: “He can still knock 800 words out in 45 minutes.” 

 Mr Thompson’s friends say he is keen to expand the New York Times’ video efforts, believing this will be a defining medium for newspapers online.

Leaving aside the fact that 800 words in 45 minutes seems a little long to this writer, what does it tell us about Thommo's New York plan ?  The New York Times has 22 foreign bureaux; it's sister paper, the International Herald Tribune offers some additional effort, and is now branded "The Global Edition of the New York Times". The Boston Globe also has healthy coverage of world affairs. In June, the Times launched a Chinese-language website, with 30 new employees.

I try not to breach too many confidences about my former employer, but think-pieces about international affairs from the New York Times stable (and sometimes the Washington Post) have always provoked debate and ideas for developing more coverage in world news output. BBC diplomatic and foreign correspondents usually file longer analysis "to order" rather than as a matter of course. There isn't the space in tv and radio bulletins; and the BBC's website, though always improving, doesn't always go for pieces much longer than the traditional minute and a half radio offering - less than 300 words. NYT think pieces start at 750, and dead-tree print deadlines make newspaper journalists try to write things that will still be true and interesting for long hours after they've left the keyboard.

This isn't about breaking news, but trends and analysis. Intelligent backgrounders and insightful angles have a long shelf life in the world of the iPad. Can Mark Thompson get past the newsroom control of NYT "publisher" Arthur "Pinch "Sulzberger Junior, to unlock the print skills of New York Times foreign staff ?
Can he create a new genre of video think pieces ? Before BBC.com (now funded by advertising), which ought to lead the way in this field, gets its international analysis in a better shape ?