I would argue that they would argue that they are NOT killing their circulation.
My guess is that they have done some very in-depth market analysis which has told them that you’re going to sell more papers to a niche that is perhaps only 15% of the population which is loyal and rabid, rather than trying to appeal to some larger group but who are not highly motivated to read a paper or seek validation in print.
If you get twenty five percent of a niche that is only 15% of the populace, you are doing much better off than if you get three percent of 60% of the populace.
In other words; you can’t please all the people all the time. Just stay loyal to the ones who stay loyal to you.
... and again, the staff don’t need to know why you hired them. You don’t tell them that their job is to appeal to the left side of the left because it sells more, you only need to tell them that you support what they are doing.
I understand your logic, but I’m not sure it holds up.
Check these stats out, regarding it’s circulation.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/273503/average-paid-weekday-circulation-of-the-new-york-times/
When I used that link to make sure it was working, they had put up an pay link.
Here...
Circulation in thousand copies
From 2001 their paid delivered papers went from 1,200,000 subscriptions to 450 thousand in 2018.
Did they pick up anything meaningful online.
Well it seems they did. They claim to have around four million digital subscribers.
So this strategy may be paying off for them.