[Bill Hemmer, Cnn Anchor:] "All the news that's fit to print," that's the motto for the "New York Times." For years, "The Times" has rejected romance, or what's known as personals, but that is changing now. "Making the Moost of It" tonight in Jeanne Moos in the search for love in black and white.
[Jeanne Moos, Cnn Correspondent:] You know times have changed when the newspaper that reported "Men Walk on Moon" now prints "Men Seeking Women" or even "Men Seeking Men." [on camera]: Yes, I'd like to place a personal ad if I could. [voice-over]: They call "The Times" "the old gray lady." Well, the old gray lady is ready for romance. "Extra! Extra! Easy on the eyes news junky... [on camera]: Seeks playboy paperboy."
[Unidentified Female:] Can't say "playboy," ma'am.
[Moos:] I can't say "playboy?"
[Unidentified Female:] No, you cannot.
[Moos:] "The Times" is picky about its personals. The not-so-gray "New York Observer" spoofed the "New York Times" personals even before they began, but "Timesmen Make Me Hot" would never make it into the real thing, as we discovered when we placed our own ad. [on camera]: "Let's get ink-stained together rolling in all the news that's fit to print."
[Unidentified Female:] No. You can't say stuff like that. No, it's suggestive. I can't take it. This is a very conservative paper.
[Moos:] And here Republicans think it's liberal. Media critics from publications that already run personals tease "The Times."
[Michael Wolff, "new York" Magazine:] You wait for about half a century, and then you do what everyone else is doing.
[Moos:] Women far outnumbered men in this first batch of personals, and many were over 50.
[Jason Gay, "new York Observer":] Not exactly a young swinging crowd just yet, but that could change.
[Moos:] Maybe not the swinging part. When we weren't allowed to say "seeks playboy paperboy," we had to rewrite. [on camera]: "Playful paperboy."
[Unidentified Female:] Playful? I don't think you can say "playful" either.
[Moos:] Eventually she relented. But if you're a "bad boy" looking for a "dirty girl" or you "need discipline," place your ad elsewhere. If you find all those initials confusing, "The Times" provides a helpful legend. [on camera]: P confused me a little bit. "Professional." I thought it was Protestant. [voice-over]: We finally settled on "let's get ink-stained together... [on camera]: Reading all the news that's fit to print." Instead of "rolling in it." [voice-over]: Most newspapers aren't rolling in ad revenue these days. But we don't know if that's why "The Times" started running personals, because no one from the paper would talk to us about the subject. Our ad finally ran.
[Gay:] Well congratulations, because when I read these on Sunday, I thought that was definitely the raciest of the bunch, and that sort of jumped out at me.
[Moos:] You didn't call my...
[Gay:] No, I didn't. I didn't.
[Wolff:] If you get responses to that have you gotten any?
[Moos:] Half a dozen, two of them former paperboys, but we'll never know if they're fit to date. Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.