The New York Times Co. announced Wednesday that it would cut 100 newsroom positions, bowing to the financial pressure from declining print revenue that continues to plague papers across the country.
“So, regrettably, we are going to have to reduce costs in the newsroom,” Executive Editor Dean Baquet wrote in a note to staff.
Baquet said he hoped the reductions could be achieved through voluntary buyouts, but warned that “if we don’t get there we will be forced to do layoffs.”
Publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. and chief executive Mark Thompson sent their own companywide email, saying they are “reducing the cost base of the company to safeguard the long-term profitability of The Times, not because of any short-term business difficulties.”
But the executives also said that advertising revenue was flat in the most recent quarter and, according to Baquet, “our new products are not achieving the business success we expected, even though they are journalistic sensations.”
The prospect of newsroom reductions is a familiar one at The New York Times — as it is at most print publications. Times staffers have been through several rounds of buyouts before, although the paper has also added positions and new features in recent years.
Times spokeswoman Eileen Murphy said there are currently 1,330 full-time employees in the newsroom, the highest staffing level the paper has seen in five years.
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