diff --git a/resources/recipes/nytimes_sub.recipe b/resources/recipes/nytimes_sub.recipe
index f4101ca299..1814132667 100644
--- a/resources/recipes/nytimes_sub.recipe
+++ b/resources/recipes/nytimes_sub.recipe
@@ -336,7 +336,7 @@ class NYTimes(BasicNewsRecipe):
                         self.log(">>> No class:'columnGroup  first' found <<<")
         # Change class="kicker" to <h3>
         kicker = soup.find(True, {'class':'kicker'})
-        if kicker and kicker.contents[0]:
+        if kicker and kicker.contents and kicker.contents[0]:
             h3Tag = Tag(soup, "h3")
             h3Tag.insert(0, self.fixChars(self.tag_to_string(kicker,
                              use_alt=False)))
@@ -460,8 +460,10 @@ class NYTimes(BasicNewsRecipe):
                         return self.massageNCXText(self.tag_to_string(p,use_alt=False))
                 return None
 
-        article.author = extract_author(soup)
-        article.summary = article.text_summary = extract_description(soup)
+        if not article.author:
+            article.author = extract_author(soup)
+        if not article.summary:
+            article.summary = article.text_summary = extract_description(soup)
 
     def strip_anchors(self,soup):
         paras = soup.findAll(True)
diff --git a/src/calibre/web/feeds/news.py b/src/calibre/web/feeds/news.py
index b1af210011..a5478f96a9 100644
--- a/src/calibre/web/feeds/news.py
+++ b/src/calibre/web/feeds/news.py
@@ -683,13 +683,15 @@ class BasicNewsRecipe(Recipe):
             base.extract()
 
         ans = self.postprocess_html(soup, first_fetch)
-        try:
-            article = self.feed_objects[f].articles[a]
-        except:
-            self.log.exception('Failed to get article object for postprocessing')
-            pass
-        else:
-            self.populate_article_metadata(article, ans, first_fetch)
+        if job_info:
+            url, f, a, feed_len = job_info
+            try:
+                article = self.feed_objects[f].articles[a]
+            except:
+                self.log.exception('Failed to get article object for postprocessing')
+                pass
+            else:
+                self.populate_article_metadata(article, ans, first_fetch)
         return ans