<div><p>Today, Donnie Walsh was named the new president of the New York Knicks, which means for the MSG beat reporters who cover the team, the place might feel a little less like hell. </p><p>The Times' Howard Beck--who told the Observer in November that covering the Knicks was a "miserable" assignment--just published a story on Mr. Walsh's hiring, and tells us what it means for his cohort: </p><p>In a major concession, Dolan also granted Walsh the authority to rewrite the Garden’s highly restrictive policies on speaking with the news media. Walsh who long styled himself as an accessible, media-friendly executive, insisted on retaining that freedom before accepting the job, the person said. The Garden has generally disallowed any employee — from team executives to coaches, players and staff members — from speaking to reporters without permission or, often, without a public-relations person present. </p><p>No doubt, Mr. Beck must be somewhat more than pleased about the power play away from Dolan. Back in November, Beck told us: </p><p>“Everyone is so worried about upsetting Jim Dolan, or getting fired, and as a result people aren’t themselves,” said Mr. Beck. “If you transplanted the same individuals and put them in another city, then they’d be far more interesting. They’d be themselves.” </p><p> </p><img src="http://admatch-syndication.mochila.com/images/ad.gif?aid=17426902&bid=informcom" /></div><div id="copyright"><div>

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