From our Late to the Photo desk

It took some doing to gather the visual evidence (big shoutout to the Shutterbug Missus), but finally the hardworking staff can address the abomination that was the New York Times on Monday, which totally sold out to an advertising assault by Acura.

Here’s Page One, above the fold:

What you see there is an advertising wrapper that reproduced the lefthand third of the Times front page.

That folded out to a nifty sidebar to the real Page One, and the inside back page of the ad wrapper:

Which faced this back page ad from the real A section:

Wrapping it all up was this faux back page:

Result: A three-page spread of Acura advertising that totally co-opts the Times editorial content.

It’s a sad day when the New York Times swaps its editorial independence for advertising codependence.

Then again, this could be the price we pay to get editorial content going forward.