Dark days for the Gray Lady

[marmar]

The New York Times said on Monday that it will offer buyouts to some of its newsroom staff, and may lay journalists off if not enough people accept the severance package.

Writing to staff, publisher Arthur Sulzberger said that he had asked top editors within the paper to "identify significant cost savings." He wrote that "the advertising climate remains volatile and we don't see this changing in the near future."

The paper reported that the company is offering 30 buyouts to non-union newsroom managers.

"There is no getting around the hard news that the size of the newsroom staff must be reduced,” editor Jill Abramson wrote in her own memo, adding, "I hope the needed savings can be achieved through voluntary buyouts but if not, I will be forced to go to layoffs among the excluded staff." ......................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/03/new-york-times-buyouts-layoffs_n_2231172.html

[still_one]

1. Yes the internet had a hand in this, but it was the telecommunication act of 2000 that was the real

culprit, and the loss of any real standards

[leveymg]

2. Vicious cycle - cut costs, cut staff, cut qualify, lbut never cut dividends or top mgmt compensation

That's the NYT business model that is leading the news industry into oblivion. Soon there will be no researchers, writers, or working editors, and no readers, just the Publisher, a Board of Directors, and stockholders demanding more.