The New York Times has enough problems without making dumb public relations moves.  Even with its stylish new headquarters as the backdrop, the Gray Lady has rarely looked as staid as it did in a very funny Daily Show segment on Wednesday.

Standing outside the New York Times building, The Daily Show’s Jason Jones stated with some amazement, “Do you know they still make paper newspapers today? It’s true, and there’s still one place they’re printing them like they did 150 years ago - The New York Times.”  Once inside, Jones strolled around the newsroom with Executive Editor Bill Keller and then an earnest young “communications coordinator” who didn’t have a clue as to how to deal with a wiseguy from the Daily Show.  She helpfully emphasized to Jones that the Times tries very hard to be accurate.

But the most painful part to watch was Assistant Managing Editor Rick Berke squirming in his chair opposite Jones, who introduced Berke by saying, “… [E]ven today there are some who think there’s merit in publishing the news twenty-four hours after it’s happened.”  Then the following exchange occurred:

Jones: “Why is aged news better than real news?”
Berke: “I’ve never heard the term ‘aged news’”
Jones: “Tell me one thing in there [the newspaper] that happened today.”
Berke: “Nothing here happened today, but I think, but there are several things that didn’t happen yesterday…”

Keller was game in his attempt to handle the interview with humor and even make a case for the Times.  When asked whether the Times makes as much money as the Huffington Post, Keller pointed out, “The last time I was in Baghdad I didn’t see a Huffington Post bureau or a Google Bureau or a Drudge Report bureau there cause there isn’t one and there isn’t going to be one… because it’s expensive, because it’s dangerous.  It’s a lot easier to stay at home and riff on the work that somebody else does.”  Good point - and the only one scored by the Times in the five minute Daily Show report.

The report ended with a Drudge Report screen shot displaying the headline “New York Times Inexplicably Allows Daily Show Inside Offices.”

Why did the Times do it?  Did someone there think it would help the paper reach a “younger demographic” or some similarly silly idea.  And having decided to let the Daily Show inside, why weren’t the Times people prepared to at least do some light-hearted battle?  Who knows what they were thinking - maybe Keller should assign an investigative reporter to find out what happened.