Allan M. Siegal, an assistant managing editor of The New York Times, has been appointed the newspaper’s standards editor, filling a new post. The appointment, effective immediately, was announced on Tuesday by Bill Keller, executive editor. Siegal, 63, who will retain the title of assistant managing editor, will serve as ‘‘the main internal sounding board for staff members who have doubts or complaints about the paper’s content, whether already published or in the works,’’ Keller said on Tuesday in an e-mail message to the staff. In his new position, Siegal will organise training for new reporters and editors in fact-checking, overall accuracy and ethics, as well as oversee writing of new guidelines on using unidentified sources and on byline and dateline policies. In addition, he will follow up on complaints that are received or initiated by the newspaper’s public editor, or reader representative, soon to be appointed. The creation of the standards editor is a response to issues raised last May, when The Times acknowledged that its reporter Jayson Blair, had committed acts of journalistic fraud, including plagiarism and fabrication of quotes. Siegal was hired by the newspaper as a copy boy in 1960 and joined the foreign desk as a copy editor in 1963. He became an assistant foreign editor in 1971, the year he helped lead the editing team that produced The Times coverage of the Pentagon Papers. He was named assistant managing editor in 1987. Siegal is a co-author, with William G. Connolly, of The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage. NYT
