The New York Times is in panic mode. Courtesy those snooping tabloids, Arthur Sulzberger Jr. and the fam are getting crap for the way they're running the Grey Lady, thanks to the convenient power system currrently in place where the publicly traded paper is still run like a family-owned operation. What to do when you're getting unwanted flack? Hire a PR crisis team, natch. They approached Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher — but unfortunately, Morgan Stanley (the leader in the fight for reorganization) already has 'em on retainer.

Sagging stock price, dipping circulation, accustations over unwarranted increases in executive compenstation. If this gets any sexier, we just might find reason to ignore the Post's Paid $ix scandal.

Which, we should note, sounds like what the Post would prefer. With the Times going light on Ron Burkle, it's only natural for the Post-Its to launch an attack on West 43rd Street.

TIMES IN CRISIS [Janet Whitman, NYP]