Arthur Sulzberger Jr.

The New York Times Company has hired "internet professional" Joseph Seibert, formerly an executive at Marc Ecko. Mr. Seibert will become the company's new chief information officer.

He's been its COO since 2006 so he presumably had a role in the Air Force One ad campaign that ad guru Andrew Essex described this way: "As a result of this, Mark Ecko no longer advertises in GQ and Details, my former publications. ... If advertisers can turn themselves into news and content, what is the role of a magazine?"

(And what does that mean for the future of the Times' content?)

Anyway, Mr. Seibert will replace David Thurm, who has been promoted to a new position called senior vice president, operations, which will oversee outside printing, New York production and building operations.  read more »

In this week's New York, Joe Hagan writes a portrait of the 27 members of the fifth-generation of Sulzberger-Ochs family, the part of the family who will someday run The New York Times.

The stakes are high, and these kids started the family business from an early age. Mr. Hagan writes:

Sulzberger has said that his clan starts going to family meetings when they’re 10 years old and by 15 they understand their roles as caretakers of the New York Times. There’s also a one-day orientation session for kids turning 18 or 21—or people marrying into the family—to learn about the legacy of the Ochs-Sulzbergers.

 read more »

New York just sent out its weekly release previewing stories. Next week's issue will feature "Bleeding 'Times' Blood." Sub-hed: "Has the prestige (and profitability) of owning The New York Times finally sunk below the level required to keep the interest of the Sulzberger clan?"

The story is written by Joe Hagan.  read more »

On Monday, the Times Company closed its wholesale distributor, which would mean a job loss of some 550 people, and today the Boston Globe reports that the Times Company is closing one of the Globe's printing plants. "The Boston Globe said yesterday that the newspaper plans to shutter its Billerica printing plant by 2010, affecting as many as 200 employees who work at the site. The paper plans to keep its main printing plant in Dorchester."

As tough as it is for reporters, what about the distributors? That's 750 people fired in five days.

Yesterday, on Sept. 11, Arthur Sulzberger Jr. held a meeting with Times employees to give the latest report on the State of the Times. There were two meetings, one in the morning and another in the afternoon, and we spoke to three people who attended the afternoon session.

Mr. Sulzberger, who wasn't wearing a wedding ring, began the meeting with a slideshow that was set to the background of Coldplay's "Clocks." The slideshow highlighted all the Pultizers the paper won this year, and the paper's T magazines, its Web stuff. And by time it was over, no one clapped.

Mr. Sulzberger responded with a little smile, and said, "Coldplay.  read more »

Some of the gems from Rupert Murdoch's quote-icle in the 75 Anniversary issue of Esquire:

"Everyone can see that The New York Times is a magnificent paper in many ways, lots of ways, but you can also see that they choose stories, very often for page 1, based on an agenda. I think that Arthur Sulzberger, over the years, has made it very clear that he wants a very liberal paper, and that he wants a staff that reflects that community. For five years, he didn't want any white, heterosexual men hired. He was sending a clear message."

"I have one or two friends who know Barack Obama, but I've only met him once. I was very impressed. He struck me as very pragmatic, certainly ambitious, but a very decent human being. But after you meet politicians for the first time, you have to go away and pinch yourself, because, you know, they've been briefed and they say things you're going to agree with."  read more »

On Sept. 10 at 5:30 p.m., The Times will round up the newsroom on the third floor at its Eighth Avenue building to toast the accomplishments of the 32 reporters and editors who covered the Olympics—the majority of them from the sports department. There will be Champagne and egg rolls to reward the “stunning” coverage The Times produced on the Web, and in the newspaper, wrote executive editor Bill Keller in a staff memo. In an earlier staff e-mail, he lauded the staff and subjected the note, “Our Gold Medalists.”

But in these difficult times, journalistic success is not a protection against the inevitable downscaling affecting the newspaper industry.  read more »

Two magazines are preparing profiles of The New York Times' Arthur Sulzberger, Jr.

New York magazine has assigned Joe Hagan to write a profile, and David Margolick is preparing a piece for Portfolio. Both articles are write-arounds, and neither author has scored an on-the-record interview with Mr. Sulzberger, according to a source familiar with the situation, who also says that Mr. Sulzberger has no plans to talk to either of the writers.

Mr. Margolick's story was scheduled to run in the October issue of Portfolio hitting newsstands on Sept. 23, but it was dropped at the last minute, sources said. The story may need to be recast.  read more »

As we reported earlier, here's the text of Arthur Sulzberger's e-mail to his staff about the changes to The New York Times' Metro and Sports sections:

To the Staff:
Given the business challenges we face, we are constantly looking for ways to reduce costs that do not affect the quality or quantity of the journalism we provide to our readers. Next month you will see one such way in the metropolitan edition of The Times.

Beginning Monday, Oct. 6, we will introduce a new layout of the paper by consolidating some sections. Metro will be integrated into the Main News section Monday through Saturday.  read more »

The New York Supreme Court has ruled that New York Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. must submit to a deposition in the $5 billion lawsuit filed by Donald Trump against Times scribe Timothy L. O'Brien, author of the 2005 book TrumpNation: The Art of Being the Donald. In it, Mr. O'Brien labeled the New York developer and landlord a mere millionaire, which irked Mr. Trump mightily.

His lawyers last fall subpoenaed Mr. Sulzberger to question him about an email exchange with Mr. O'Brien in which the reporter predicted that Mr. Trump would "go ballistic" over portions of the book.

The Philadelphia Inquirer has a lot more details, including what the Times publisher can be questioned about.

A few months ago, after Times reporter David Chen left the Trenton bureau for New York's City Hall, and The Times decided against sending a replacement, New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine decided to meet with Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. at the paper's skyscraper on Eighth Avenue.

"I wanted to register a sense of serious disappointment that we weren't seeing the kind of coverage that I think would be good for The New York Times' distribution as well as, certainly, the public," said Governor Corzine in a phone interview with Media Mob.

Essentially, Mr. Sulzberger relayed this message back, according to Gov. Corzine.  read more »

Arthur Sulzberger, Jr. and Janet Robinson reported grim second-quarter results today—ad revenue down another 10 percent versus the second quarter last year, net income down to $21 million versus the $118 million they made this quarter last year—and just dropped a small bombshell:

"We plan to increase the daily newsstand price of the Times from $1.25 to $1.50," said Ms. Robinson on a conference call with investors this morning. It goes into effect on August 18.

The paper last raised newsstand prices last July.

Ad Age scored an extremely rare interview with Arthur Sulzberger Jr. today. It's good placement for The New York Times publisher and chairman: his company is days away from releasing second-quarter earnings results, which aren't looking particularly great. Some good press is a welcome event since this year has arguably been one of Mr. Sulzberger's most challenging as publisher. The paper lost money last quarter; he's getting divorced from his wife; the paper experienced lay offs in the newsroom for the first time.

But you won't find any mention of the divorce in the profile, and only a small bit on the company's terrible year.  read more »

NYT Co. stock took another nosedive today, dropping 2.73 percent to $12.85. That means in the last week, Times Company stock has fallen $2.21, or 15 percent.

The big hit came after Craig Huber, an analyst at Lehman Brothers, wrote to investors last week: "We continue to think the board and management would think long and hard about selling assets and repurchasing shares again until it gets a much better handle on where the fundamentals of the newspaper industry are going."

The Times stock tumbled even further today than initially projected, closing at $13.62, down from the $14.01 it held at closing time yesterday, which was 7 percent down from the day before.

As we speak, New York Times company stock is at $13.72, its lowest level since October 1998.

Times stock fell 7 percent yesterday, and it's down another 2 percent today after Lehman Brothers analyst Craig Huber wrote in a note to clients yesterday predicting that Times stock would only continue to fall. He cut his price target for the stock to $8 from $11 and wrote, "New York Times shares should follow its weakening fundamentals over time." That's because everything in the world of newspapers is tanking:

Ad revenue at the flagship New York Times likely will drop 9.1 percent this year, more than the 7.  read more »

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Chloë Sevigny has turned into an "Eco-Nazi" with her anti-plastic-bag ways. [The Cut]

Gossip Girl News! The guy who plays Dan's father, Rufus, thinks Dan and Serena make a "a very hot couple" in real and Gossip worlds, which is kind of ew. Meanwhile, GG's lead torturer Michelle Trachtenberg was in fact the torturee in her private Los Angeles high school. [People, Daily Intel]

Arthur Sulzberger Jr. has moved into an apartment on West 66th Street after getting separated from his wife, Gail Gregg, who for now occupies the home they shared together on West 64th Street. [P6]

Eliot Spitzer will be issuing campaign contribution refunds to his top supporters. [P6]  read more »

Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. and his wife of 33 years, Gail Gregg, are separating. In a statement, they said, "We have made the difficult decision to separate after 33 years of marriage. We are fortunate to have the love and support of our two children, other family members and close friends and colleagues. This is a private matter and we will not discuss it further.”  read more »

One year after the New York Times moved into its shimmering new tower, the paper is ready for a dramatic software upgrade. Welcome to Microsoft Office 2003! The brand newish software was installed in the third-floor newsroom last night, and the culture department on the fourth floor is on-deck for tonight. The Times is also finally abandoning the old Eudora e-mail system for the mysterious but apparently very reliable "Outlook" e-mail. Memo, sent last night, after the jump:  read more »

This morning, the New York Times announced the recipients of their 2007 Punch Awards. The awards, named after the nickname of former Times honcho Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, have two categories: "journalistic or editorial excellence" in community service and "business accomplishments."  read more »

The Post's Keith Kelly hears that 70 Times staffers are going to take buyouts, which means that about 30 are on the chopping block and it'll be Joe Sexton's Metro team that'll take the brunt of the hit.  read more »

So while the city's biggest media moguls—and the FCC and Congress—start to sort out who can buy Newsday, some curious analysis of the newspaper's Web site is going around.

Yesterday, Arthur Sulzberger Jr. said at the Times Center that newsday.com was its top competition for grown-ups.

"NYTimes.com also ranks No. 1 in coverage of the greater New York market, reaching 28 percent of adults," he said. "Our closest competitor, Newsday.com, reaches 16 percent."  read more »

Lose an editor; gain a media property. John Koblin details every maneuver in one very busy week for Rupert Murdoch. This piece has everything: The Wall Street Journal, Marcus Brauchli, Newsday, The New York Times, and Arthur Sulzberger, Jr.  read more »

Marcus Brauchli’s last supper with The Wall Street Journal had been a good one.

Seated at a table in the ballroom of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel on 22nd Street NW in Washington, D.C., on the evening of April 21, he’d been offered a roasted red apple stuffed with bleu-cheese mousse; a Vidalia onion-crusted petite filet mignon with baby turnips; a chocolate mousse bombe with a dark chocolate crème brûlée center; and two wines, a 2006 California Chardonnay and a 2006 Pinot Noir.  read more »

The wingnut parade at the 112th annual New York Times stockholder's meeting, held late this morning at the Times' conference room on the other side of a birch-and-moss filled atrium from the Times' newsroom tower, was out of control. And when chairman Arthur Sulzberger Jr. was not being harassed by pesky shareholders, he was being attacked by bugs. (He spent about a minute flailing at an insect that seemed to have emerged from his hair.) Cliff Kincaid of Accuracy in Media was there.  read more »

Arthur Sulzberger, Jr., who is speaking right now at the Times Building for the paper's annual shareholders meeting, declared the newspaper is not for sale. Choire Sicha sends in this dispatch, via text:

Sulzberger: "This company is not for sale." Media reports are "ill-informed."

Newsday, which is close to being sold to Rupert Murdoch, is "our closest competitor" on the web.

Newsweek gives big play this week to Rupert Murdoch's early maneuvers at The Wall Street Journal. Point: He's the general who has declared war on The New York Times.

This is something we've been talking about around here for a while now, and rumors of war aside, we haven't quite heard the first shot around here.

That doesn't change much with this week's story, but there's still lots of juice here.

Here are the highlights:  read more »

New York Times CEO Janet Robinson in today's conference call:

From a standpoint of coverage, I think it's clear The Wall Street Journal is positioning quite differently in terms of overall coverage, broadening very much in the international and political arena, and, with the launch of their magazine, entering into broader lifestyle coverage.  read more »

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That big Apple ad on nytimes.com is back today! Which is odd. Last Friday that ad appeared as well, which means that's two weeks in a row that Apple has taken over the Times home page.

Back in January, Times spokeswoman Catherine Mathis told us that Arthur Sulzberger Jr. had instituted "new rules" regarding ads like that and decided those would be limited to once a month.  read more »

New York Times publisher Arthur "Pinch" Sulzberger Jr. is not having a bright and shiny day. For one thing, the newspaper's buccaneer shareholder Harbinger Capital increased its pressure on the Sulzberger family's company by formally nominating its own four candidates to the paper's board of directors.

But in Manhattan, boardrooms aren't nearly as important as duplex co-ops. According to a deed filed in city records this afternoon, Mr. Sulzberger transferred ownership of his family's A-line duplex to his wife, the artist Gail Gregg, for $3,255,721. The apartment is in Harperley Hall, a stately pre-war co-op at 64th Street and Central Park West.  read more »

The continuing battle between The New York Times and the paper's Guild over its health-benefit fund just got a lot more intense.

Quick recap: The Guild's health benefits fund is going bankrupt—they're expecting it to run out by the end of the year—and they're negotiating with the paper over how it can help out. According to the paper's assistant managing editor, William Schmdit, talks have "foundered." The Guild wasn't one bit happy about that assessment and they squarely blame his side. (It should be noted that this has nothing to do with the 100 job cuts that we've been talking about over the last two weeks.).

The memos—and the drama!—follow:  read more »

According to internal traffic measures, the Web site of the New York Times broke single-day traffic records this week—then broke them again the very next day.  read more »

It was a live blog! But now it's an account of how the networks, web sites and local papers around the country covered Super Tuesday.

12:59: OK, we're approaching the six-hour mark, so let's wrap a few things up. Chuck Todd just came onto MSNBC, and based on his infinitely magical formulas, has concluded it's looking like a plus-four-delegate night for Obama (that would be 841-837). But: He said that once the superdelegates—who are still skewing towards Clinton—are factored in, she'll be able to say that she has an overall delegate advantage.

The major papers are explaining the split-vote with the same headline.  read more »

Observer alumnus Gabe Sherman has a piece in The New Republic today that pins Arthur Sulzberger Jr. to Bill Kristol's hiring and how lots of current and former Times staffers aren't happy about it.  read more »

Arthur Sulzberger, Jr. has been juggling two things when considering ads like the one that dominated the New York Times home page yesterday: good money from advertisers versus frustrated readers. His decision: to limit those ads to once a month.

Times spokesperson Catherine Mathis writes Media Mob:  read more »

One more thing on the plans to build a tower over the Port Authority Bus Terminal. Our fellow Observer blog The Media Mob reports that the plans vindicate New York Times' publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr.'s decision to move the paper's headquarters from 229 West 43rd Street to a new tower at 620 Eighth Avenue.

He sold the old headquarters in 2004, when Eighth Avenue was but the seedy western edge of Times Square.  read more »

The news that Vornado will build a skyscraper on top of the Port Authority Bus Terminal, can only be good for the folks at The Times.

Arthur Sulzberger Jr. was roundly criticized for selling the old Times headquarters at 229 West 43rd Street too early (he sold it for $175 million in 2004; it sold this year for $525 million). But since then, Eighth Avenue has quickly become the new home of the Manhattan skyscraper.  read more »

At the "glittering" celebration for the opening of the Times building on Monday, publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. gave a speech in which he thanked advertisers and the building's architect, Renzo Piano.

Mr. Sulzberger did not, however, mention Bill Keller, The Times' executive editor -- or any other specific person on the paper's editorial staff -- in his speech, according to a person present. Instead he thanked the newsroom sort of generally.

In a way, that omission was fitting, since many members of the newsroom peered down during his speech from their second- and third-floor office windows with their hands and faces pressed against glass, said the source. With the exception of a few stars, the newsroom was shut out from the event.

Since Rupert Murdoch closed the deal to acquire Dow Jones, and with it The Wall Street Journal, he's had no shortage of things to say about the weaknesses of The Journal's biggest competitor, The New York Times. So it's perhaps surprising to learn that he told an Australian paper he'd "thought about" buying The Times. In typical Murdochian fashion, the revelation appears as a kind of casual, off-the-cuff remark in the course of a longer interview.

Newsweek sees the comment as a move by Mr. Murdoch to rattle Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger. The magazine, citing a source at The Times, reports that after winning control of the Journal, Mr. Murdoch sent Mr. Sulzberger a note that read "Let the war begin."

Was this the first shot? Guess we'll find out.  read more »

“Other than if you put a ruler on the paper and measure it, I’m kind of hoping it will not be that noticeable,” said Tom Bodkin, design director for The New York Times.  read more »