NY Observer > The New York Times Company

Times Company Closes Globe Printing Plant; Another 200 Employees 'Affected'

John Koblin — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 14:06:28 -0400

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.

WSJ Report: New York Times Company Nearly 'Junk'

Matt Haber — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 12:49:19 -0400

More bad news for the suddenly beleaguered New York Times.

A report in today's Wall Street Journal by David Gaffen claims that as shares of the company continue to fall, "Standard & Poor’s said it is facing a potential downgrade, which would drop the credit rating into junk territory."

(Conservative press critics have been saying that for years without all the fancy numbers and statistics.)

According to an analyst from Barclays Capital quoted by The Journal, “We can not envision a single positive scenario." Well, not unless you're Rupert Murdoch, that is.

Times Will Raise Newsstand Price to $1.50

John Koblin — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 11:22:20 -0400

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.

Black and White, Red All Over: Is 2008 the Worst Year in Modern Newspaper History?

John Koblin — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 08:08:19 -0400

On Wednesday morning at 11 a.m., Arthur Sulzberger and Janet Robinson will be managing a conference call that, from the looks of it, won't be much fun. They'll be reporting The New York Times Company's second-quarter earnings. Last time they did one of quarterly earnings calls, The Times reported big losses; there was a plan to cut 100 newsroom jobs, some through straight-up layoffs rather than superannuation and retirement deals. And in the past few weeks, it's only gotten worse: the company's stock has fallen to a decade low, and tumbled more than 15 percent in just this month. read more »

The New York Times Co. Stock Falls Another 3 Percent

John Koblin — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 16:46:23 -0400

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.

New York Times Stock Falls to a 10-Year Low

John Koblin — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 13:19:22 -0400

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 »

Wingnuts, Bugs Attack Sulzberger at Times Shareholder Meeting; New Board Raider Galloway Comes to Rescue of Old Ladies

Choire Sicha — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 13:24:07 -0400

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 »

Hedge Fund Members Join Times Company Board

John Koblin — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 12:27:00 -0400

The emerging showdown between Harbinger and Firebrand and the New York Times Company has come to an end. The two parties have reached an agreement where two hedge fund leaders, Scott Galloway and James Kohlberg, will both join the Times Board, increasing the size of directors on the board from 13 to 15 members. The Times reports that it's the first time since the company went public in 1967 that it has accepted board members from outside the company. read more »

McCain Camp Trips Up Self-Loathing Media

Choire Sicha — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 18:10:28 -0500

For all the clumsiness of the McCain press folks over the past 30 hours since The New York Times published their story about their candidate's ties to a lobbyist, they scored at least one direct hit—a talking point that has appealed to and happily been dispersed by the self-involved press.

But first, the idiocy! read more »

Times Columnists Dance on TimesSelect Grave

Michael Calderone — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 12:42:21 -0400

“If you mention the words ‘subscription’ and ‘Internet,’” said Andrew Rosenthal, “the bloggers come after you with pitchforks!”

Mr. Rosenthal, the New York Times editorial page editor, of course won’t have to deal with pitchfork-wielding bloggers, now that TimesSelect, the newspaper’s paid subscription service—complete with a op-ed columnist-shielding pay wall—has officially been killed off.

Nor will Mr. Rosenthal have to fend off the 22 opinion columnists who had been behind the paywall. read more »