Time for shareholder democracy at the Times?

The WSJ discusses how the NYT has invited its chief critic, Hassan Elmasry, to speak to its board. Elmasry has criticized the Times' dual class voting structure that lets the Ochs-Sulzberger family control the company.

I don't think they're going to invite me anytime soon. If they did, I might complain about how the Times is diluting its franchise by trumpeting popular mediocrities like Ben Stein and Gretchen Morgenson. The temptation to sell papers over the short run rather than building reputation is supposedly why its management is insulated by the dual class structure, isn't it?

Morgenson is a symptom rather than cause of the Times' problems. Surely the Times editors know that it's improper to muddy the line between journalism and opinion letting Morgenson do both. But nevertheless they proceed down this path because they know that front page screeching about the financial scandal du jour sells papers.

So I would say, if the Times is going to do this stuff anyway, why don't they just get rid of the dual class structure and make some money?

And, by the way, I'm still waiting for Morgenson, the Joan of Arc of shareholder democracy, to start caring about those disenfranchised Times shareholders.