Tarting Up The Gray Lady Of 43rd Street

The New York Times has long had more in common with the Congressional Record than with its distant cousins, the tabloids. It has never had much of a nose, or a tolerance, for either gossip or nonpolitical scandal. So what on earth is going on at the Times these days? Why is the Gray Lady leaning over the back fence and acting like a garrulous matron? Why has she suddenly started kicking up her heels -- occasionally tripping over her own feet? Why are Times readers -- and staffers -- wondering whether the paper is abandoning its old standards, as well...