Comments on: Lauren Rich Fine: What Exactly Is The NYT Trying To Do? http://paidcontent.org/2009/05/05/419-lauren-rich-fine-what-exactly-is-the-nyt-trying-to-do/ The economics of digital content Wed, 19 Jun 2013 21:54:48 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Tom Walker http://paidcontent.org/2009/05/05/419-lauren-rich-fine-what-exactly-is-the-nyt-trying-to-do/#comment-69536 Thu, 07 May 2009 15:16:38 +0000 http://paidcontent.wp.gostage.it/2009/05/05/419-lauren-rich-fine-what-exactly-is-the-nyt-trying-to-do/#comment-69536 The core problem is employees don't grasp the danger until it is too late. Pan American, Eastern Airlines, American Motors, various regional retailers, and many more had this problem. It is hard to think of a company that came back other than to "come back" for awhile to stagger on, and then collapse once more. It is human, natural, and unavoidable.

GM, for example, is doing fine in other parts of the world where it started a little bit to a lot later without the big pay packages in the US. GM could easily close the US and keep those other businesses; but it too is trying to hang on too long.

The best part of the NYT story is it is a liberal bastion so is cut a lot of stack by the media critical of businesses. This is a modern test case of change. What is missing from the discussion, largely, is how can the AOLs, Googles, Yahoos, etc become so important if the print media hadn't become far less important? People may just come away with the truth of it: the information age changed; the print media were not at fault (yes, they made mistakes; but all companies do that) and the employees were not at fault (yes, they could have made more concessions faster, but would it have made any real difference?).

]]> By: lauren rich fine http://paidcontent.org/2009/05/05/419-lauren-rich-fine-what-exactly-is-the-nyt-trying-to-do/#comment-69535 Wed, 06 May 2009 17:23:16 +0000 http://paidcontent.wp.gostage.it/2009/05/05/419-lauren-rich-fine-what-exactly-is-the-nyt-trying-to-do/#comment-69535 i wouldn't eliminate print altogether but i would certainly start to wean folks one day at a time. i have a predilection for electronic versions rather than websites, at least to start. i think the new round of electronic readers is getting closer to the point where readers might convert. you definitely could merge some functions, including edit/business between boston and new york but the globe should still be a local paper. for all the angst about the globe, remember there are many other media outlets in that town, including the herald and the phoenix

]]> By: Steve http://paidcontent.org/2009/05/05/419-lauren-rich-fine-what-exactly-is-the-nyt-trying-to-do/#comment-69534 Wed, 06 May 2009 05:34:31 +0000 http://paidcontent.wp.gostage.it/2009/05/05/419-lauren-rich-fine-what-exactly-is-the-nyt-trying-to-do/#comment-69534 Riding on nathanr's coattails … what about merging the edit and business staffs in Boston and NYC, eliminating all redundant coverage?

]]> By: jenkins http://paidcontent.org/2009/05/05/419-lauren-rich-fine-what-exactly-is-the-nyt-trying-to-do/#comment-69533 Tue, 05 May 2009 20:03:15 +0000 http://paidcontent.wp.gostage.it/2009/05/05/419-lauren-rich-fine-what-exactly-is-the-nyt-trying-to-do/#comment-69533 Someone has to let the employees know that it is time to stop being so damn arrogant. You used to work for a great company but, sadly, you now work for a complete basket-case and a failed company. Stop being so arrogant; time to jump ship!

]]> By: nathanr http://paidcontent.org/2009/05/05/419-lauren-rich-fine-what-exactly-is-the-nyt-trying-to-do/#comment-69532 Tue, 05 May 2009 18:19:26 +0000 http://paidcontent.wp.gostage.it/2009/05/05/419-lauren-rich-fine-what-exactly-is-the-nyt-trying-to-do/#comment-69532 Let's start a list of what they can do:

1-Model the likelihood of an All Digital Newsroom with lower costs akin to how Huff Po Aggregates but with a bit more editorial oversight

2-Eliminate Print in Boston

3-Limit NYTimes print to Saturday & Sunday

4-Cancel the Pension- battle it out in the courts.

5-Do the WSJ exercise of "how many people touch a story before running it" and cut that down to 1-2 people. If Murdoch says WSJ was 10, NYT is probably not too far from that.

6-Eliminate coverage that can be aggregated by expert sources (ex: strike a deal with Bloomberg for business news; cut a deal with ESPN for Sports)

7-Streamline Business Functions or outsource them

Other ideas and a sense of how to save another $20MM?

]]>