Bulletin | NYTCo. shares rise 69% from a year ago, as newspaper publishers pull back from deep lows

[Roller-coaster year from 52-week low of $3.44; bigger view]

Capping a second consecutive year of tumultuous change, stocks of major newspaper publishers today staged a huge comeback from a year ago, with company shares soaring well above broader stock-market averages.

The New York Times Co.'s stock rose 69%, ranking it No. 5 among companies I follow, according to preliminary closing figures moments ago. Shares finished the year at $12.36 -- a huge turnabout from their 52-week low of $3.44. The rankings:

• Lee: up 746%
• McClatchy: up 343%
• E.W. Scripps: up 215%
• Gannett: up 86%
• New York Times Co.: up 69%
• News Corp.: up 66%
• Washington Post. Co.: up 13%

For comparison, here's the performance of major stock-market indexes:

• Dow Jones Industrial Average: up 19%
• S&P-500: up 23%
• Nasdaq: up 44%

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[Source: Google Finance]

In workforce trims, some NYT Co. units lost more

Employment fell an average 9% across the New York Times Co. by the end of 2008 vs. 2007 -- to 9,346 full-time equivalent employees from 10,231 the year before, according to the company's most recent annual reports to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

But the annual change within the NYT Co.'s five major divisions wasn't uniform, based on a review of the so-called 10-K returns filed with the S.E.C. (chart, above).

For example, the Regional Media Group, which comprises 14 small community newspapers, lost 13% of its workers vs. 8% of all at the NYT Media Group, which mostly comprises The New York Times. Meanwhile, two divisions, the digital About Group and the Corporate office, actually gained a small number of employees, the filings show.

Earlier: Documents track annual NYT Co. employment cuts

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About this blog

Welcome to New York Times Co. Blog! I'm a former USA Today editor and reporter, now starting a second journalism career online. This site went live on Dec. 31, 2009, in beta test mode. Depending on the initial response I receive, I expect to maintain this blog for the benefit of NYT's nearly 7,700 employees and other stakeholders.

Jim Hopkins
Publisher and Editor

San Francisco, Calif.

[Revised Feb. 23, 2010]

Lawsuit says top investor Harbinger bid unfairly

The Wall Street Journal is now reporting: "An aggrieved suitor in a 2006 bid to buy an appliance firm alleges that Harbinger Capital Partners, a prominent hedge fund that won the takeover battle, received nonpublic information about the rival bid and accumulated a big stake before the deal talks were made public, according to a preliminary ruling in the Delaware Chancery Court."

Harbinger owns 18.4 million shares of the NYTCo., according to its most recent federal regulatory filing, on Dec. 3 -- a stake that it's recently been reducing. That was equal to about 13% of all shares, based on the last 10-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

In an earlier trimming of its holdings, Nov. 19, the NYT DealBook blog said Harbinger owned nearly 15% of all shares at the time. That was based on the 21 million it owned at that point, the November filing shows.

Today's WSJ story continues: "In a lawsuit alleging breach of contract and other claims related to its failed bid, Nacco Industries Inc. alleges that executives of takeover target Applica Inc. passed tips through a consultant working for Harbinger, a New York hedge fund run by Philip Falcone. Nacco sells Hamilton Beach-brand appliances."

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Paywalls | Amid Arianna's doubts, where's NYTCo.?

The New York Times floats the notion today that publishers are drawing closer to charging for online content, a 180-degree turn from a nearly 15-year-old practice that's proved disastrous for the industry. "Indeed," report the NYT's Richard Perez-Pena and Tim Arango, "in the next several weeks, industry executives and analysts expect some publications to take the plunge."

Yet, their story cites only a few examples, and none of them involve New York Times Co. sites.

Whatever the industry-wide outcome, skeptics abound on whether publishers are serious about making the switch. Blogger Alan Mutter told the NYT: "We’re looking at some sort of an inflection point, at least in attitude. But I haven’t seen much realistic, hard-headed thinking about how that's going to happen, so I don’t know how much is really going to change. And Huffington Post co-founder Arianna Huffington (left) "predicted that much of the talk of media's mining the Web for new revenue would never become reality -- and that if it did, free sites like hers would benefit,'' the Times says.

What do you hear about for-pay products and firewalls at your site? Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the rail, upper right.

Gainesville | Fronting today

The New York Times Co.'s Gainesville Sun

• Gainesville, Fla.
• Publisher: Jim Doughton
• Executive Editor: Jim Osteen
• Circulation: 56,000 daily
• Contact us list

Got an NYT Co. front page to recommend? Find it in the Newseum's page one database, then post a link in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the rail, upper right.

[Image: Newseum]

How the attempted plane bombing was played

A Nigerian man is accused of attempting to blow up a Northwest Airlines flight with 278 passengers and 11 crew members as it landed in Detroit yesterday. How select newspapers played the story on page one, starting with The New York Times (bigger view):

The Wall Street Journal (bigger view):

The Detroit Free Press (bigger view):

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[Images: Newseum]

Talks said 'collapsed' over NYT news service jobs

Last-minute talks between the Newspaper Guild and the New York Times Co. to try to save 26 New York Times News Service jobs from being outsourced to a Florida subsidiary apparently have collapsed, the New York Post's Keith Kelly reports today (second item). NYTCo. had given the Guild a deadline of 5 p.m. yesterday to accept its final and "best offer."

The company announced in November that it planned to cut 26 staff members when it moved its News Service to the non-unionized The Gainesville Sun, where wages are lower. The layoffs were separate from the recent 100 jobs eliminated in The New York Times' newsroom, Kelly notes. "The Guild said it had offered to have members take a 17% wage cut, bringing salaries down to $75,000 a year. New employees would start at $64,000 a year."

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Post-employment, shopping for health insurance

My company-subsidized medical coverage ended when my severance benefits stopped: October 2008. I then went on COBRA, the coverage mandated by the federal government; it generally lasts for 18 months.

But now my COBRA coverage effectively is ending, because my former employer -- Gannett Co. -- has canceled its contract with my preferred HMO here in San Francisco, effective Jan. 1. That means I'm now shopping for health insurance in the so-called individual market, without the benefit or guarantee of group rates, because I'm self-employed, so without access to an employer's plan.

My experience looking for a new medical plan may offer lessons to anyone who's considering leaving the NYTCo. -- either voluntarily, or through a layoff.

Here's a look at the costs:

• I paid $150 a month during my final year as a USA Today employee, for full-service coverage, with a relatively low deductible. That was for just one person: me.
• On COBRA, my premium shot up to nearly $400 a month for the same benefits.

With my COBRA ending, I want to continue coverage through my current HMO, Kaiser Permanente, because I like my doctor and the other services there. So, I've narrowed my search for a new plan to two possibilities offered by Kaiser:

• a "conversion plan," offering essentially the same benefits I got through Gannett. It costs $621 a month, with a $1,500 annual deductible. Mind you, that's still for just me alone. Under this plan, there's no medical review, so I wouldn't be denied coverage because of pre-existing conditions.
• a high-deductible plan that costs much less: $277 a month, with a $3,000 annual deductible. But unlike the conversion plan, pre-existing conditions could make me ineligible.

I'll let you know how it all shakes out.

Questions for you: What's your experience been with coverage at the NYTCo.? And if you've left the company, what was it like to get health insurance if you, like me, shopped on the individual market?

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Farewell | Another newspaper blog bites the dust

The author of McClatchy Watch called it quits yesterday, after 27 months of maintaining his blog about the publisher of the Miami Herald, Sacramento Bee and other dailies. From his final "Time to exit" post:

Newspaper watchdog bloggers will mostly be hobbyists who don't do it for the money. For the past several months I have averaged 2,000 hits on weekdays, about half that on weekends. Not bad for this little blog but not a solid business model -- my monthly income from this blog was never more than about one sixth of my mortgage payment.

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In Graham vs. Sulzberger, Grahams 'stinking rich'

"Unlike the Sulzbergers of The New York Times, who, with their company's dividend cut to nothing, may have to sell their paper to eat."

-- Michael Wolff, in his "Post Modern'' article in Vanity Fair about The Washington Post under Publisher Katharine Weymouth, October 2009.

Florence | Fronting today

The New York Times Co.'s TimesDaily

• Florence, Ala.
• Publisher: Darrell Sandlin
• Executive Editor: Wayne Mitchell
• Circulation: 32,379 daily; 35,177 on Sunday
• Contact us list

Got an NYTCo. front page to recommend? Find it in the Newseum's page one database, then post a link in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the rail, upper right.

[Image: Newseum]

Deals | GQ on 'vulgarian' Murdoch's takeover

In a new story with implications for The New York Times, GQ magazine -- better known as a men's fashion glossy -- aims its gun barrel at the two-year-old sale of The Wall Street Journal to News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch. "It was a stunning turn of events whose significance is still coming into focus,'' the magazine says, as it recounts a litany of predictions about where the Australian "vulgarian" Murdoch would take the storied newspaper.

One one grim prediction coming true: Murdoch is taking steps to turn the Journal into the preeminent national daily, an attack on the market now claimed by the NYTCo.'s flagship, the Times.

The story continues: "The Murdoch takeover marks the beginning of the end of the newspaper world as we once knew it. In the two years since the Bancrofts sold out, nearly 200 newspapers in the United States have gone under. The Rocky Mountain News, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, and Ann Arbor News are dead. The San Francisco Chronicle, Boston Globe, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Philadelphia Inquirer, and entire Tribune chain are barely hanging on. Nearly 47,000 jobs have been lost. But under Murdoch, the Wall Street Journal is not only still publishing, but also, unbelievably, hiring."

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[Image: GQ]

Stock | NYT and GCI shares hit new highs

Shares of Gannett and the New York Times Co. traded at new 52-weeks highs in early trading today after upgrades by Wells Fargo securities. In recent trading:

• NYT jumped nearly 12%, to $11.64, after touching $11.99 earlier this morning, a new 52-week high.
• GCI rose nearly 7%, to $15.39, after running as high as $15.49 a share -- also a new 52-week high.

"Wells Fargo Securities analyst John Janedis lifted his rating on the sector," MarketWatch says in a new story, "citing a faster improvement in advertising sales than expected. Janedis also upgraded Gannett Co. to outperform from underperform and New York Times Co. to market perform from underperform."

Reuters has moved a story on the rally, too.

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Boston | In shuffle, change without a difference?

The Boston Globe's new incoming publisher, Christopher Mayer (left), has announced a series of changes in the paper's top management for departments including advertising, news, finance and human resources. But except for HR, I can't see how these new titles, reported today in this Globe story, reflect anything more than that: new titles. The story doesn't suggest any big functional changes in job descriptions.

Mayer succeeds the retiring Steven Ainsley on Jan. 1. Ainsley who has been the paper's top executive for the past three, tumultuous years. At the time the publisher change was announced, Oct. 29, the Globe noted: "Mayer has been with the Globe since 1984 and is the first insider the Times Co. has named publisher since buying the newspaper from the Taylor family in 1993. The Times Co. fired Benjamin Taylor in 1999 and installed one of its own executives, Richard Gilman, as publisher. Ainsley, who has run numerous regional papers for the Times Co., succeeded Gilman in September 2006."

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[Photo: Globe]

Stock | In big turnaround, NYT shares gain

Less than two weeks before the end of the year, shares of major newspaper publishers have staged a huge comeback from a year ago, when several were in danger of bankruptcy. The year-to-date performance of seven stocks I follow, according to Google Finance:

• Lee: up 871%
• McClatchy: up 316%
• E.W. Scripps: up 199%
• Gannett: up 75%
• News Corp.: up 64%
• New York Times Co.: up 42%
• Washington Post. Co.: up 12%

For context, NYT shares closed Friday at $10.40 vs. a 52-week low of $3.44.

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NYT | After layoffs, a big Hollywood party

[The Chateau Marmont: site of penthouse soiree]

Top New York Times editor Bill Keller lauded "the luscious franchise of the T magazines,'' in a chat with staff last month, according to a transcript here -- a fresh reminder that such luxe advertising vehicles pay the freight these days. So, the company might be forgiven for a T promotion unleashed the same day the Times eliminated the last of 100 newsroom jobs through layoffs and buyouts.

Yesterday, the NYT disclosed that T: The New York Times Style Magazine plans to "celebrate the Golden Globe Awards in style with a cocktail party on Jan. 15, at the penthouse of the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood,'' according to this press release.

"The guest list for the party,'' the release notes, "will include many of the celebrities who have been interviewed for T Magazine and for the online 'Screen Test' videos by Lynn Hirschberg, an editor at large for T and the Sunday Magazine. Over the past five years Javier Bardem, Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes, Rachel McAdams, George Clooney (left), Penelope Cruz, Carey Mulligan, Rosario Dawson, Megan Fox, Tilda Swinton, Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson, Marion Cotillard and Emily Blunt were among the actors featured on the cover of T and interviewed by Ms. Hirschberg."

Arrive thirsty! "Champagne for the event will be provided by Dom Pérignon and the brand's latest vintage, 2000, will be served."

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NYT | Keller says no more staff cuts 'foreseen'

Top New York Times editor Bill Keller wisely prefaces his forecast of no more job reductions by saying: "Of course, we have no guarantees of what the future holds,'' according to a new memo obtained by the New York Observer. "But," the memo continues, "anxiety-fed gossip notwithstanding, there is no further newsroom staff cut planned or foreseen, no 'next round' on the agenda. It is my fervent hope that we will never endure another month like this one."

Keller also says that this year's 5% wage reductions are over, that wages will be restored to their previous levels, starting next month. Plus, he says: "And our work force will no longer be depleted by furloughs, which should compensate a little for the reduction in staff."

Still, on the Romensko blog, reader Alex Dering comments: "That's still a salary cut. Unless you think you didn't deserve a raise, and none of your expenses have increased."

Is this really the end of staff cuts? With a comparison to Keller's pledge after last year's 100 cuts, The NYTPicker blog has doubts.

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[Image: today's front page, Newseum]

NYT | Layoffs say: What've you done for me lately?

"You can't rest on the fact that you once wrote a great story five years ago."

-- an unidentified reporter, speaking to The NYTPicker blog about the mood in The New York Times' newsroom, as at least 18 layoffs are tallied.

NYT | New York magazine lists laid-off staffers

The weekly says the biggest surprise so far on the list of those laid off is the culture desk's Eric Konigsberg, a contributor to the "Age of Riches" series. Repeating the list, with additions, Gawker quotes New York Times Co. spokeswoman Diane McNulty, who says the New York magazine list contains errors; she doesn't detail them, however.

NYT's Andrews: foreclosure didn't force buyout

Edmund Andrews revealed an embarrassing truth earlier this year: The New York Times reporter who covered the mortgage meltdown was a victim of the crisis himself. His Busted: Inside the Great Mortgage Meltdown "explained how he became entangled in the mortgage crisis that has swept the country, purchasing a house he couldn't really afford and piling up debt," The New York Observer says today.

Andrews is among 74 NYT staffers getting a buyout this week, as the paper jettisons 100 newsroom jobs.

"The only value for the buyout was that it essentially provides me with enough money to do a thoughtful exploration of new possibilities,'' he told the Observer. "My economic problems-which are not over-are not really changed by buyout."

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How blogging makes you crazy -- if you choose

If I hesitate to resume blogging, it is the knowledge that it can consume your life -- if you allow it to. Always-on journalism, where writers use web-based software to report and publish stories, means you can work 24/7 -- unless you establish boundaries and sensible work hours. Last April, for example, I posted 310 times to one of my other sites, Gannett Blog -- an average of more than 10 posts a day. That's nuts. But not so uncommon.

In the new movie Julie & Julia, a young journalist in Queens nearly destroys her marriage when she becomes convinced that her blog's readers had become vitally dependent on her for something ultimately inconsequential: kitchen recipes. Nikki Finke, the powerful blogger about the film industry, is portrayed in a New Yorker magazine profile in October as a vengeful woman who rarely leaves her home to meet any of the industry titans she so often attacks. Ditto for writer Emily Gould, whose controversial New York Times Magazine cover story last year shows that she, too, cycled through two relationships as she allowed herself to be drawn too-deep into her job as a blogger for leading media gossip site Gawker.

Readers: What's it like to be a 21st century worker, where BlackBerries and other devices mean you are expected to work anywhere, anytime? Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green rail, upper right.

[Image: the NYT cover for Gould's "Blog-Post Confidential" article]

Documents track annual NYT Co. employment cuts

As The New York Times draws closer to cutting 100 newsroom jobs, a review of the parent company's total employment reveals a declining workforce in recent years. The chart (left) shows total employment for the New York Times Co. at the end of each year, based on annual reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The especially big decline between 2006-2007 reflect the sale of the company's nine-station broadcast television division.

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NYT | Guild says arbiter upholds seniority rights

"Under the ruling," the Newspaper Guild of New York says in a statement today, New York Times newsroom employees "laid off in inverse order of seniority will receive three weeks per year of severance pay, instead of two weeks, the same rate as employees who are involuntarily laid off out of order, and will have to sign a release, as they currently do. Employees with the least amount of seniority are generally most vulnerable to layoffs, but management can pass over more senior employees if it determines that a less senior employee’s qualifications are 'superior.'"

Monday's ruling comes a day before management is expected to lay off about two dozen editorial workers, the Guild notes, as part of a broader cut of 100 newsroom jobs.

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NYTCo. names outsider McCarty as new HR chief

Reader's Digest Association executive Todd McCarty (left) has been appointed senior vice president, human resources -- the company's top personnel job, effective Dec. 31, the company announced today. McCarty, 43, will be responsible for all human resources functions, including compensation and benefits, diversity programs, performance management, staff development and succession planning, the NYTCo.'s statement says. He will report to CEO Janet Robinson.

Most frustrating: the company doesn't say who McCarty is succeeding. The New York Times reported the change, but also didn't disclose his predecessor. Currently, Desiree Dancy holds the title of chief diversity officer and vice president, corporate human resources. But that's not the same position McCarty is assuming.

Summarizing his background, the statement says McCarty has been senior vice president, global human resources for The Reader's Digest Association, which he joined in 2008. From 2005 to 2008 McCarty was senior vice president, human resources with drug store chain Rite Aid Corp. From 2000 to 2005 he served as senior vice president, North American human resources for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide and from 1992 to 2000 he held various positions with Frito-Lay Co., a division of PepsiCo. McCarty started his career with Quaker Oats in 1989. He is also currently a director of department store chain Bon-Ton Stores.

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Carr: WSJ's D.C. bureau now 'tilting right'

That's the assessment of media columnist David Carr of The New York Times, who writes today that The Wall Street Journal's deputy managing editor, Gerard Baker, is helping engineer a more conservative tone in the newspaper's Washington bureau. The column has already drawn a strong objection from top WSJ editor Robert Thomson, who says it shows signs that the NYT is worried about increased competition, according to the Romenesko blog.

Read my full post on the News Corp. Blog.

Indeed, the ax is falling well outside the newsroom

Regarding my post about non-newsroom job cuts at The New York Times, I received the following via a reader:

The current layoffs are a sign of an unhealthy company because they are clearly cutting MUCH deeper than the 100 positions that keep making headlines in the news. News Service's cuts, advertising cuts, biz-side cuts are all going on without being included in the tally. I also understand that Editorial has been ordered to cut 8% just as the newsroom is cutting 8% (which is equal to 100 jobs). So Editorial has to lose 3 jobs and they still don't know who is being affected. I just know that nobody volunteered for the buyout. I think it's just awful.

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Why investing in newsrooms is good for business

"The success of our business depends substantially on our reputation as a provider of quality journalism and content."

-- Annual 10-K report for 2008, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Feb. 26, 2009.

In ongoing layoffs, what about non-editorial staff?

As The New York Times prepares to lay off several dozen in its newsroom, I'm reminded that many of the newspaper industry staff cuts made public are dominated by those involving editorial workers. That's often because those reporting layoffs are mostly newsroom employees -- the same group that tends to dominate readership of blogs like Romenesko and New York Times Co. Blog. But what about job cuts in advertising, production, finance and other departments? Surely some of those workers are getting the ax at the NYT, too.

Ditto for USA Today, which recently cut an identical number of newsroom jobs -- 26. When I've covered layoffs at Gannett's marquee title in the past, I rarely got reports of cuts outside the newsroom.

So, questions:

• Did any staff reductions hit non-editorial workers at USAT?
• And what about severance? The New York Post's Keith Kelly says that many of the NYT staffers getting buyouts left with two years of severance. What are the terms for those getting forcibly laid off?

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Stocks | Major media shares jump higher

On the heels of rosier forecasts at this week's UBS media conference, companies I follow closely saw their shares rise smartly in recent trading today:

• Gannett: up 9% to $13.04
• New York Times Co.: up 3.6% to $9.26
• News Corp.: up 2% to $14.87

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Robinson sees Q4 print ad revenue down 25%

For the current quarter, CEO Janet Robinson (left) says print-advertising revenue is expected to fall 25%, but online advertising is expected to grow 10%. Total debt, meanwhile, is forecast to fall nearly $500 million from a year ago, to $800 million, by year end, Robinson says, according to a new Wall Street Journal story.

"Over the past year, the company has instituted a series of cost-cutting measures as advertising revenue in the industry has dried up and threatened the company's ability to manage its debt," the WSJ says. "The company has borrowed money, sold assets and reduced wages, among other steps, hoping to avoid cuts to its news staff, which is larger than that of many competitors."

Robinson's remarks, in a company statement, came in advance of its presentation today at the UBS media conference.

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Buyouts: Silicon Alley Insider, Gawker float names

And some of the purported volunteers are marquee players, including economics reporter Louis Uchitelle and financial news reporter Geraldine Fabrikant. Media gossip blog Gawker is keeping a running list today, the deadline for buyout applications.

Citing progress, NYT says it won't sell Worcester

Ending months of speculation, NYT has decided it won't sell the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, according to a new Boston Globe report. "In a note to Telegram employees," the Globe reports, "Times Co. chairman Arthur O. Sulzberger Jr. and chief executive Janet L. Robinson said the Central Massachusetts paper is 'making substantial progress in transforming every part of its journalistic and business operations' after job cuts, cost reductions and other.

The move follows a similar decision by the Times Co. in mid-October to keep the Globe in its portfolio as well.