Rebellion
At The NYTimes: Newsroom To Walk Out After "Decrying Direction Of
Paper" by Tyler
Durden, 6/29/17
Exhausted and demoralized after
repeated buyouts and cutbacks in the newsroom, it seems the downtrodden
journalists at the New York Times have finally had enough:
In a pair of letters delivered to
executive editor Dean Baquet and managing editor Joseph Kahn, the News Guild of
New York said the New York Times editorial staff will leave the newsroom on
Thursday as a demonstration of solidarity as management threatens jobs, according
to MarketWatch.
Unlike the employee rebellion at the
Wall Street Journal last year, when staffers confronted management about
unequal pay practices and a paucity of female reporters and editors in
leadership roles, the uproar at the times is centered around the repeated
paycuts and cutbacks, which have left the newsroom feeling “demoralized.”
One letter was sent by the
organization's copy editors, who are facing dramatic staffing cuts, while the
second letter was sent by reporters in an expression of solidarity with the
editing staff. Both detailed frustrations with the repeated rounds of buyouts,
and the lack of transparency surrounding management’s decisionmaking.
“In the copy editors’ letter to
Baquet and Kahn, they say they feel betrayed and disrespected in the newsroom,
and ask that management reconsider staffing cuts that are expected as the paper
plans to restructure.
“Cutting
us down to 50 to 55 editors from more than 100, and expecting the same level of
quality in the report, is dumbfoundingly unrealistic,” the letter reads. “You
often speak about the importance of engaging readers, of valuing, investing and
giving a voice to readers. Dean and Joe: We are your readers, and you have
turned your backs on us.”
“Editors — and yes, that especially
means copy editors — save reporters and the Times every day from countless
errors, large and small,” they say in the letter. “Requiring them to dance for
their supper sends a clear message to them, and to us, that the respect we have
shown the Times will not be reciprocated.”
The editorial staff is accusing
Times management of being too opaque in
its efforts to restructure the news operation, which includes consolidating two
separate groups of editors into one group and asking copy editors to resubmit
applications for roles in the newsroom.
Indeed, morale is so low at the NYT that its reporters and editors said they
actually feel more respected by readers than by management. The letters referenced an internal
report in which the copy editors were compared to dogs urinating on fire
hydrants.
That’s
quite the claim - considering President Donald Trump’s relentless bashing
of the “failing” news organization has turned public sentiment squarely against
it.
“And that
is why it feels like such a profound waste that morale is low throughout the
newsroom, and that many of us, from editors to reporters to photo editors to
support staff, are angry, embittered and scared of losing our jobs,” the letter
reads.
The rebellion comes at a
time when advertising revenues for print – formerly a powerhouse of the media
industry that has been precipitously eroded by the rise of free news on the
internet – continue to shrink, and gains in digital advertising are failing to
make up the difference.
In the first quarter,
print ads declined by 18% while digital ad revenue increased by nearly 19% and
accounted for more than 38% of the company’s total ad revenue. Still, the
paper’s stock remains buoyant; shares have risen more than 35% year-to-date,
compared with a 9% gain in the S&P 500.
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