American journalist (born 1955)
Alessandra Stanley
(born October 3, 1955 in
Boston
,
Massachusetts
) is an American journalist.
[1]
As of 2019, she is the co-founder of a weekly newsletter "for worldly cosmopolitans" called
Air Mail
, alongside former
Vanity Fair
editor-in-chief
Graydon Carter
.
[2]
Biography
[
edit
]
She was born in
Boston
,
Massachusetts
, and grew up in
Washington, D.C.
, and Europe. She is the daughter of
NATO
defense advisor Timothy W. Stanley.
[3]
She studied literature at
Harvard University
[4]
and then became a correspondent for
Time
, working overseas as well as in
Los Angeles
and in
Washington, D.C.
, where she covered the
White House
. Stanley then moved to
The New York Times
as a foreign correspondent, first as co-chief of their
Moscow
bureau,
[3]
and then
Rome
bureau chief. In 2003 she became the chief
television
critic for
The New York Times
.
[
citation needed
]
She has also written for
The New York Times Magazine
,
The New Republic
,
GQ
and
Vogue
.
In 1993, Alessandra Stanley received
The Matrix Award
from
Women in Communications
,
[5]
and in 1998, she received the
Weintal Prize
for Diplomatic Reporting.
[6]
Among Stanley's notable columns are her critical take on the series finale of
The Sopranos
,
[7]
her assessment of
Jerry Sandusky
's denial of charges of pedophilia to
NBC
[8]
and her coverage of Russian television on the eve of the
2012 Russian presidential election
.
[9]
In the fall of 2011, Stanley taught a class at
Princeton University
called "Investigative Viewing: The Art of
Television Criticism
", described as an "intensive introduction to criticism as it is undertaken at the highest level of a cultural institution".
[10]
Several news and media organizations, including the
Times
, have criticized the accuracy of Stanley's reporting.
[11]
[12]
[13]
[14]
Among the articles that they have criticized are a September 5, 2005, piece on
Hurricane Katrina
,
[15]
a 2005 article that mistakenly called the sitcom
Everybody Loves Raymond
"All About Raymond",
[16]
and a July 18, 2009, retrospective on the career of
Walter Cronkite
that contained errors.
[17]
In an August 2009 article examining the mistakes in the Cronkite piece,
Clark Hoyt
, the
Times
'
s
public editor
, described Stanley as "much admired by editors for the intellectual heft of her coverage of television" but "with a history of errors".
[18]
Then executive editor
Bill Keller
defended Stanley, saying "She is ? in my opinion, among others ? a brilliant critic".
[19]
Stanley, who is
Euro-American
, wrote an article for
The New York Times
in September 2014 entitled "Wrought in Rhimes's Image:
Viola Davis
Plays Shonda Rhimes's Latest Tough Heroine" about television series
How to Get Away with Murder
and the career of its
African-American
producer,
Shonda Rhimes
.
[20]
Stanley wrote, "When Shonda Rhimes writes her autobiography, it should be called 'How to Get Away With Being an
Angry Black Woman
'
" and made comments about African-Americans that were seen as offensive. Stanley's piece, wrote the
Times'
s Public Editor,
Margaret Sullivan
, "struck many readers as completely off-base. Many called it offensive, while some went further, saying it was racist".
[21]
Stanley defended her piece, writing in an email message to
Talking Points Memo
, "[t]he whole point of the piece?once you read past the first 140 characters?is to praise Shonda Rhimes for pushing back so successfully on a tiresome but insidious stereotype".
[22]
The organization
Color of Change
called for a retraction from the
Times
.
[23]
As of 2017, Stanley is no longer employed by the
Times
.
[24]
In 2023, Stanley
[25]
co-authored a letter from the editor for
Air Mail Weekly
explaining their decision to let accused rapist
Armie Hammer
[26]
tell his side of the story in response to charges filed against him in 2022. In the letter, Stanley cites their decision was made in an attempt to "believe the men."
Personal life
[
edit
]
Stanley was previously married to
Michael Specter
.
[27]
She is friends with
New York Times
columnist
Maureen Dowd
.
[28]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Ask A Reporter: Alessandra Stanley"
.
The New York Times
. 2001. Archived from
the original
on November 3, 2002.
- ^
Williams, Alex (2019-02-01).
"Graydon Carter Joins the Newsletter Brigade"
.
The New York Times
.
ISSN
0362-4331
. Retrieved
2019-02-02
.
- ^
a
b
The New York Times
, September 23, 1997,
"Timothy W. Stanley, 69, Expert On Defense Policy and Strategies"
- ^
"
"FORA.tv Speaker - Alessandra Stanley"
"
. Archived from
the original
on 2009-11-03
. Retrieved
2012-04-15
.
- ^
Matrix Hall of Fame.
Archived
2011-11-26 at the
Wayback Machine
- ^
"Weintal Prize for Diplomatic Reporting - Previous Winners"
, Institute for the Study of Diplomacy, Georgetown University.
- ^
"One Last Family Gathering"
,
The New York Times
, June 11, 2007
- ^
"Sandusky Turns to TV to Break Silence"
,
The New York Times
, November 15, 2011
- ^
"TV in Putin’s Russia: Jesters, Strivers and a Longing for Normalcy"
,
The New York Times
, February 13, 2012
- ^
"Council of the Humanities, Princeton University"
. Archived from
the original
on December 7, 2012.
- ^
"Why does NYT critic Alessandra Stanley get away with making so many errors?"
. Tampa Bay Times/St. Pete Times. 24 July 2009. Archived from
the original
on 6 May 2015
. Retrieved
24 September
2014
.
- ^
Silverman, Craig (July 24, 2009).
"Wrong, Wrong, Wrong, Wrong, Wrong, Wrong"
.
Columbia Journalism Review
. Columbia University
. Retrieved
July 27,
2009
.
- ^
[1]
Archived
August 6, 2009, at the
Wayback Machine
- ^
Sklar, Rachel (28 March 2008).
"Because The New York Times Never Does Anything Controversial, Bill Keller Thinks It Probably Doesn't Need A Public Editor"
.
Huffington Post
.
- ^
Stanley, Alessandra.
"Reporters Turn From Deference to Outrage"
, Editors' note appended,
The New York Times
, September 5, 2005.
- ^
Stanley, Alessandra.
The Unmarried and the Befuddled Are Still Good for Laughs
, Correction appended,
The New York Times
, September 21, 2005.
- ^
Cronkite’s Signature: Approachable Authority
, correction appended,
The New York Times
- ^
Hoyt, Clark. "
How Did This Happen?
"
The New York Times
, August 1, 2009.
- ^
Jim Romenesko,
"Keller: Stanley keeps her job because she’s 'a brilliant critic'"
Archived
2012-07-25 at the
Wayback Machine
, Poynter.org, August 5, 2009.
- ^
Stanley, Alessandra (September 14, 2014).
"Wrought in Rhimes's Image"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
February 7,
2019
.
- ^
Sullivan, Margaret (22 September 2014).
"An Article on Shonda Rhimes Rightly Causes a Furor"
.
The New York Times | Public Editor's Journal
. Retrieved
23 September
2014
.
- ^
Kludt, Tom (19 September 2014).
"New York Times Television Critic Defends 'Angry Black Woman' Piece"
.
TPM Livewire on the TPM website
. The Talking Points Memo
. Retrieved
23 September
2014
.
- ^
Demand the New York Times retract "angry Black women" rant on Shonda Rhimes
Archived
2014-10-01 at the
Wayback Machine
Color of Change Sep 19 2014
- ^
Stanley, Alessandra (9 February 2017).
"The End of the Engagement Announcements"
.
Committed: 165 Years of Love (and War) in The New York Times Wedding Announcements
. Retrieved
10 February
2017
.
Alessandra Stanley, a former New York Times reporter, foreign correspondent and critic, is a writer based in New York.
- ^
"Inside the Armie Hammer Interview"
.
airmail.news
.
- ^
"Armie Hammer Breaks His Silence"
.
airmail.news
.
- ^
"Michael Specter Is Wed To Alessandra Stanley"
.
The New York Times
. 24 April 1988
. Retrieved
31 December
2019
.
- ^
Levy, Ariel
(28 October 2005).
"The Redhead and the Gray Lady"
.
New York
. Retrieved
31 December
2019
.
External links
[
edit
]