New York Times executive editor Bill Keller has a funny way of expressing humility. Slate’s Tom Scocca found he expressed surprise that media reporters are obsessed with his newspaper, so much so that one writer live-blogged his recent appearance on NPR’s On Point with Tom Ashbrook. But his metaphor – the media reporters are “oxpeckers” while he is a massive African rhinoceros -- sounded more than a little haughty:

One of the things that continually surprises me about this job is the fascination of those outside The Times with every micro-facet of our work. Recently I did an hourlong radio call-in show, and The NY Observer actually live-blogged it. Seriously, my own wife isn't as interested in what I do all day as John Koblin, Michael Calderone, Jacob Bernstein and the rest of our obsessive chroniclers. These guys always remind me of oxpeckers, those little birds that ride on the backs of large African mammals and eat their ticks.