How Does Andrew Ross Sorkin Reel In His Sources?
The big New York profile on Times Boy Andrew Ross Sorkin is out today. Gabe Sherman tells us all about the jealousy the DealBook editor has inspired among his colleagues, what with his big (for a journalist) paycheck, his fame, and, most especially, his Rolodex of BSD sources. There's been a lot of alleged trash talk in the newsroom, most recently on account of Don Van Natta and Gretchen Morgenson claiming he stole material from them for his book. Before that (and still) the complaints have been that the reason Sorkin counts many a chief executive as a source is because he goes far too easy on them in print. Whether or not that's true, not being "adversarial or coming to the table with an ax to grind" isn't the only way ARS has managed to get people like Mack and Buffett and Dimon and Schwarzman on speed-dial (and at his party). According to Graydon Carter, it's by 1) His "boyish"-ness and 2) something else that we would never suggest but that I think we're supposed to guess by way of nonsensical euphemism.
Sorkin has another crucial advantage in the world he's traveling in: He gives good son. "There's something about his boyish, Jimmy Stewart charm that the older men he deals with find incredibly winning," Graydon Carter says.
The Information Broker [NYM]
