Catherine Mathis - FishbowlNY

2012 Matrix Award Honorees Announced

Chris O'Shea — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 15:04:21 +0000

Tis’ the season for award news. Here’s another one: The Matrix Awards, which honor extraordinary women in the media world, have announced their 2012 honorees. Past winners have included Gloria Steinem, Arianna Huffington and Alice Walker, to name a few. The 2012 honorees are Tyra Banks, Gayle Butler, Glenn Close, Maria Cuomo Cole, Ann Curry, Laura Desmond, Zenia Mucha and Peggy Noonan.

The award ceremony — presented by New York Women Communications — will be held at the Waldorf-Astoria on April 23.

“We are pleased to recognize these eight extraordinary women for their remarkable achievements in communications,” said Catherine Mathis, President of New York Women in Communications. “These individuals, from top executives of worldwide corporations to award-winning journalists and global humanitarians, truly embody the Matrix Awards’ theme and we look forward to honoring them in April.”

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NYT Spokeswoman Departs

Amanda Ernst — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 14:00:00 +0000

The Awl has learned that New York Times spokeswoman Catherine Mathis has resigned from the company. She will be leaving at the end of the month to join Standards & Poor’s.

In a memo to staffers from Janet Robinson, obtained by The Awl, the New York Times Co. CEO said Mathis, who has worked for the company for 12 years, “has been a source of strength to me, our leadership team and her colleagues throughout the organization.”

“She was always on duty, actively involved in managing the reputation of The Times brand, a major accomplishment, given the massive amount of coverage The Times Company generates on a daily basis,” Robinson added.

The Times Co.’s VP for speechwriting and internal communications Ethan Riegelhaupt will step in to Mathis’ role for the time being, the memo said.

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NYT Public Editor Tackles Decision To Keep Rohde Kidnapping Quiet

Amanda Ernst — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 12:30:00 +0000

Yesterday, New York Times public editor Clark Hoyt discussed Times reporter David Rohde‘s kidnapping and the lengths the paper’s staff took to keep the story out of the media.

Rohde has been mum about his ordeal, but Tahir Ludin, an Afghan journalist captured with Rohde and their driver, Asadullah Mangal, gave his story to the Times last month. Hoyt dug up some other facts about the kidnapping and the cover up, and he didn’t agree with them all.

First, Hoyt said Rohde’s kidnappers had requested silence. “Possibly by defying them, we would be signing David’s death warrant,” Times executive editor Bill Keller told him.

What’s more, although we had already learned that Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales had helped to keep news of the kidnapping off Rohde’s Wiki page, Hoyt said Times reporter Michael Moss and spokeswomen Catherine Mathis “persuaded a group of New England newspapers to remove Rohde’s wedding notice and photos from their Web site so the kidnappers would not have personal information they could use to pressure him psychologically,” — a move Hoyt found “troubling.”

However, Hoyt generally seems to agree with the choices made by Keller and the others, admitting that the situation and others like it puts editors is “excruciating positions.”

“Had I been in Keller’s shoes, I would have done what he did for Rohde and his companions,” Hoyt concluded. “Even though Keller acknowledged, ‘I’ll never know for sure whether our silence had any impact whatsoever on David’s fate.”

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Boston Globe Reporters Rally to Save Their Paper

Hunter — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 15:02:33 +0000

With the Boston Globe potentially facing an imminent demise, Globe reporters and the Boston Newspaper Guild have teamed with local politicans to host a rally at noon “in support of saving the Boston Globe.” The event was billed as featuring “journalists and business staff” from the paper, along with Boston City Council President Mike Ross and union leaders. At the rally, members of the public were invited to sign a petition saying they are “committed to saving the Boston Globe from the threat of closure.”

This morning, the Globe’s crosstown rival, the Boston Herald, published a story claiming that the rally raises “concerns about potential conflicts” because the Guild organized the event with the powerful Boston lobbying firm Oâ€™Neill and Associates and sought the participation of area politicians. Massachusetts State Senate Minority Leader Richard Tisei told the Herald that he was invited to attend, but “would feel uncomfortable.” The Herald also spoke with Poynter Institute scholar Bob Steele, who said it “puts pressure on the principle of journalistic independence,” when reporters ask politicians for support. Massachusetts senator John Kerry has also spoken out in support of the Globe, calling for Senate committee hearings on the future of the newspaper industry in response to the crisis.

Earlier today, we spoke with Scott Allen, an investigative reporter who’s been at the Globe for almost 17 years, to get his take on the mood in the newsroom…

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The NYT Strikes Back at The Atlantic

Glynnis — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 11:29:41 +0000

The New York Times itself jumped into the NYT-Atlantic fray yesterday posting its own response — on Romenesko no less — to last week’s Michael Hirschorn Atlantic piece, which speculated that the Times could cease printing by May. The letter, written by Catherine Mathis SVP, Corporate Communications (who tells PRNewser that she “wrote the letter because…article was receiving substantial attention and warranted a response”) highlights financial ground already covered last week by Portfolio‘s Felix Salmon; namely that the Atlantic‘s numbers don’t add up (see either piece for details on that!).

Nothing earth shattering there. Though (“warranting” aside) one wonders why the Times felt the need to respond at all since it was pretty clear from the get that Hirschorn’s piece was mostly intended to be a conversation starter — even in this uncertain environment no one really believes that the Times will cease printing in five months (even those of us who never see it in print!). What is also of particular interest is that they waited a week and then chose this forum. Or maybe this is all just evidence they are beginning to smart a little from all the doom-and-gloom coverage of late.

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