The Gray Lady Does a Sophie Choice to RIF Real Pros
October 19, 2011
Last week, The New York Times announced internally that it will eliminate 20 newsroom positions through “voluntary buyouts instead of firings.” The core business of the Times has always been the print newspaper, yet that business is shrinking. No matter how successful the digital business is, it cannot replace the revenue the print business once had. Business Insider’s “The Incredible Shrinking New York Times Keeps On… Shrinking” tells us more:
Unless the New York Times Company can figure out a way to turn around the print newspaper circulation revenue (highly unlikely), this shrinkage will continue. Even if the online pay wall is wildly successful, it will not replace the circulation and ad revenue the company will lose as print subscribers cancel. And as the print business shrinks, the print cost structure that supports it will have to shrink, too.
The company’s print-ad business has steadily shrunk over the past four years and the future looks wimpy. In the full memo executive editor Jill Abramson sent to staff, she comments that the difficult and uncertain economy has posed a challenge to the company: balancing journalism in the digital age. Online business for the Times is thriving, but without the profitable print business it one had, the future is somewhat less rosy than Google’s.
Andrea Hayden, October 19, 2011
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