The cuts will be achieved by "by not filling jobs that go vacant, by offering buyouts, and if necessary by layoffs," said the executive editor, Bill Keller. The more people who accept buyouts, he said, "the smaller the prospect of layoffs, but we should brace ourselves for the likelihood that there will be some layoffs."

The Times has 1,332 newsroom employees, the largest number in its history; no other American newspaper has more than about 900. There were scattered buyouts and job eliminations in The Times' newsroom in recent years, but the overall number continued to rise, largely because of the growth of its Internet operations.

Shares in The New York Times Company rose almost 5 percent Thursday after the newsroom staff reductions were reported, closing at $18.84, up 86 cents.

The Times Company has made significant cuts in the newsrooms of some of its other properties, including The Boston Globe, as well as in non-news operations. Company executives say the overall head count is 3.8 percent lower than it was a year ago.

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Times May End TimesSelect Fees
The Globe and Mail is reporting that the New York Times Co. will eventually stop charging for TimesSelect, a fee-based section its website at nytimes.com.

The New York Times Co. plans to stop charging Internet users for access to its columnists and Op-Ed pieces on a section of its Web site known as TimesSelect, The New York Post reported on Tuesday.

The Post, citing a source briefed on the matter, said a decision had been made by top Times executives. The timing of when the service would become free depends on technical issues, including revamping the software surrounding that section of the NYTimes.com site, according to the Post report.

A Times spokesman would not comment on the report, but said: "We continue to evaluate the best approach for NYTimes.com."

TimesSelect Web-only subscribers rose to more than 224,500 in June, the last month for which the company had data, from about 220,000 in April. Subscribers to the print edition of The New York Times also have access to the service.

With only about 225,000 subscribers it might be more logical for the New York Times to open this section up to the public. It will both increase traffic and provide more advertising revenues. The Times writers locked behind this fee-based wall are probably eager for more readers.

Posted on August 7, 2007
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Will New York Times Still Have a Print Edition Five Years From Now?
Arthur Sulzberger, owner, chairman and publisher of the New York Times, told Haaretz in an interview that he doesn't know if they will still be printing the Times in five years.

Given the constant erosion of the printed press, do you see the New York Times still being printed in five years?

"I really don't know whether we'll be printing the Times in five years, and you know what? I don't care either," he says.

Sulzberger is focusing on how to best manage the transition from print to Internet.

"The Internet is a wonderful place to be, and we're leading there," he points out.

The Times, in fact, has doubled its online readership to 1.5 million a day to go along with its 1.1 million subscribers for the print edition.

Sulzberger says the New York Times is on a journey that will conclude the day the company decides to stop printing the paper. That will mark the end of the transition. It's a long journey, and there will be bumps on the road, says the man at the driving wheel, but he doesn't see a black void ahead.

It is an outstanding quote to read but it is a transition that has been taking place over the past ten years. The final transition from print to digital news is going to take place when digital readers like the cellular book, flexible plastic displays and electronic paper become mass market devices.

Posted on February 7, 2007
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