Posted on 09/21/2005 4:42:29 AM PDT by cloud8
The New York Times Co. – parent of the Boston Globe – is slashing a staggering 500 jobs companywide, including 160 from its New England Media Group alone, 35 of them in the Globe's newsroom.
The Globe will absorb the majority of the Times Co. cutbacks in New England, Globe publisher Richard Gilman said.
Gilman informed the Globe's approximately 2,000 full-time employees about the bad news late yesterday afternoon.
"It's not been taken well," said Dan Totten, president of the Globe's Newspaper Guild, which has 1,200 union members at the paper.
The planned bloodletting cast a pall over the Globe's newsroom. Some staffers were grumbling about Morrissey Boulevard's news operation taking a far bigger hit, from a percentage standpoint, than the Times' newsroom. The Times Co. will slash about 250 jobs from its flagship New York Times broadsheet, 45 of them within the Times' newsroom.
Shortly after the late-afternoon announcement, Globe journalists gathered in clusters throughout the sprawling newsroom to express worry about the impact of the cuts. Managers quickly called department meetings to head off rumors.
Globe staffers were buzzing about the cuts coming after the Times' top executives, including Chairman Arthur Sulzberger Jr., took home a total of more than $9 million in total compensation last year.
"Our editors and managers are going to be doing their darndest" to preserve the quality of all operations at the Globe, Gilman said.
The main culprit for yesterday's action, announced after the markets closed: Falling revenue companywide, excluding online operations at the Times.
Revenue at the Times Co.'s New England Media Group, which includes the Globe and Telegram & Gazette, was off 2.5 percent in August, compared with a 9.4 percent increase in August 2004, the Times Co. said in a release. The cutbacks will also affect the Worcester Telegram & Gazette.
Gilman said the cutbacks are part of an industrywide trend. "Major metro newspapers across the country are experiencing difficult market conditions," he said. Indeed, the Times' announcement came on the same day the Philadelphia Inquirer and its sister newspaper said they'll ax 100 newsroom jobs due to reduced revenue. Last spring, the Herald announced its own round of job cuts.
The Times, which announced 200 staff cuts last spring, said it will begin the reductions in October and implement them over the next six to nine months.
But Gilman said the Globe may move faster. He didn't specify if there will be buyouts, straight layoffs or a combination of the two. Beyond the newsroom, Gilman said he couldn't break down where exactly the other cuts will come from, though he indicated the majority will come from the Globe's advertising, marketing and circulation units.
LA Times, NY Times, Boston Globe, Dallas Morning News. Major US Newspapers are seeing declining circulation, scandals involving Circulation figures and ad sales. Law suits filed by customers, declining employment. This while the generation reading the paper is increasingly Conservative and they are increasingly Liberal. Can anyone say Cognitive Dissonance? Dumb bells are alienating their customers. Pretending to be Journalists when they are practicing Advocacy Journalism. That is news with their Spin. No thanks I gave at the office.
Am overjoyed to hear this good news. The bloggers Pajama journalists are killing the empty suits MSM monopoly on information. Dan Blather railed on them yesterday. Hey Dan you can kiss my arse.
Off with their heads.
One of the problems the old main stream media faces is they do not understand what is happening. If you do not understand the problem, you will never find a soluton.
The second problem is, if they ever do understand the problem, they would rather go under then implement the changes needed to become profitable again.
I could list the problems (and solutions) here, but that is redundant, we have covered this ground so often in the past. The best advise I would give them is quit thinking yourself as an agent for social reform, and return to reporting the news, fairly, honestly, and completely.
I don't think it is too late to turn it around, but time is running out. Once advertisers leave for another venue, they may never come back.
After years of putting fiction in the non-fiction area, people are starting to catch on.
"Some staffers were grumbling about Morrissey Boulevard's news operation taking a far bigger hit, from a percentage standpoint, than the Times' newsroom."
Obviously, the Boston Globe staffers don't realize that the NY Times newspeople are part of the elite media class (if not the most elite), and the Globe newspeople are "second class". Therefore it should be obvious that the less talented Globe folks get canned first.
(Sarcasm on my part, but the truth as far as the NYT is concerned)
This is a really good sign for the Conservative movement.
......Staggering? 500 jobs was only 4% of the work force....
There was an additional 200 in May. The trend is established and the slope is very positive.
Do you have any numbers about the total in NY and Boston?
"Another example of COROPORATE GREED perpetrated by Republican FAT CAT business people taking advantage of the "little guy". Homelessness will boomerang in NYC and Beantown. I hope you G.. D... conservatives take notice! You'll be voted out of office in NY and Mass next time!!!!
(grin)
What about their healthcare? /s
How is the Washington Times doing?
Even though a hold a disdain for the NYT, I think the fact that most people just don't read newspapers much anymore, may be a factor. Most people are happy just to watch tv for all of their information, and people who really want to know the facts read blogs. Both points are especially true for today's younger generation. The newspaper buying public is dying out.
Yeah, the people that actually make money for the company. And the only place you might find some conservative common sense at a newspaper. The newsroom nitwits stay, deliberately repelling half their potential readership, driving their once noble and valuable product into the ground.
As a business model, it charms not.
True about Kinsley, but he is married to the woman who heads Bill Gates philanthropic foundation which hands out big bucks to everything liberal. I use Microsoft products but with a bad conscience because I know where the money is going.
I agree - the Boston Globe has done a lot of harm.
Still, they did do a good job on reporting the priests' scandal.
That's it? I wonder where would those people get their next jobs with all their lying and twisting "skills". Is Soros hiring?
Owing to his small mind and petite status, Micro-Pinch is only looking out for the little guy.
If any Freepers out there still subscribe to this paper - STOP IT!
We might be able to bring down this Colossus of anti-American Conspiracy yet.
But why did people turn away from the newspapers. The "convenience" of TV and the existence of blogs don't explain that. I believe that the pervasive slanting of the news so far left has helped triggered the viability of other news sources.
JMO
Thus their death spiral continues. A lack of objectivity and shoddy reporting leads to declining revenues. Declining revenues leads to job cuts. Only the "loyal" remain which leads to even more biased and shoddy reporting which leads to further declining revenue, which leads to more cuts...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.