Everything you said was true... except this.
Admittedly, just a few hints. But ...
1. The shareholders meeting was a disaster for them. Many shareholders withholding their votes for directors, etc. Pinch must be reeling. He just must.
2. NYT has shown signs recently that they're reading these blogs. And within the past few weeks they've actually responded on at least 2 occasions to what's been unfolding on these blogs. I've never seen that before.
I predict that by late summer the Times will be in full-scale damage control. This article is one of many examples where I think the leaders of this rag have just taken a complete leave of their senses. The paper has been gradually imploding; the slide, I'm telling you, is accelerating.