The New York Times announced today that it's (finally?) starting a dedicated Media desk. The beat has been split between the Business and Culture sections, but now the paper is pulling a dozen reporters together and moving them to the third floor—the floor between the other two sections, and where the top Times editors now sit. Symbolic! It's all about "convergence," they say. But why now? And, look who's not going to be assigned to the Media desk: The Times' most visible media writer and newly minted authorial rock star, David Carr! We've emailed NYT Culture editor Sam Sifton for an explanation. Regardless, this has to be interpreted as a move that assigns more importance to the media beat. The Times currently gives over the bulk of its Monday business page to media stories, and there's no indication that that will change. The selection of that page's editor, Bruce Headlam, to head the new desk is a major promotion for him. A united media beat, though, will presumably be better able to coordinate its coverage so that it's competing every day of the week—which will become ever more important as the Wall Street Journal continues its own transition into a general-interest, business-friendly paper. The WSJ's media coverage is heavy on marketing, but it is naturally the Times' biggest competitor for the most important media stories. The full memo from the Times:

Colleagues, Convergence is the biggest story in media and entertainment today. Hollywood studios are investing millions in online television, people are reading newspapers on their iPhones and bloggers and YouTube are turning even presidential election campaigns into homegrown affairs. By the end of the decade, we might all be watching 'Lost' on our shoephones. Accordingly, we are doing some convergence of our own, and today announce the birth of a new and expanded media desk for The Times, joining reporters and editors from Business Day and Culture under one banner to cover media news for both desks. The affable Canadian Bruce Headlam, currently the editor of the Monday edition of Business Day, is the obvious man to lead such a team. He will be joined by Rick Lyman and Steve Reddicliffe off the Culture Desk, and a dozen reporters taken from both departments. (Jennifer Kingson, who has helped Bruce elevate media coverage as Bruce's deputy in BizDay, will take a new editing assignment on her home desk.) Bruce will report to both Larry Ingrassia, the business editor, and Sam Sifton, the culture editor. The new media desk will be located on the third floor — equidistant from both parents — and it will feed the news needs of both, as well as the feature wells of Sunday Business and Arts & Leisure, among other outlets. So without further ado, please meet (and congratulate!) your new New York Times media reporters: Tim Arango Brooks Barnes Bill Carter Michael Cieply Stephanie Clifford Stuart Elliott Richard Perez-Pena Motoko Rich Jacques Steinberg Brian Stelter Ed Wyatt We look forward to seeing those names all over A1, as well as on the dress pages of BizDay and The Arts for many years to come. Larry Ingrassia Sam Sifton