Downswirl

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So if the cash-strapped N.Y. Times sells its stake in the Boston Red Sox for $150 to $200 million, this won't be enough to get the paper through '09, but "it should buy it some additional breathing room," says the Silicon Valley Insider's Henry Blodgett . And they could pocket another $300 to $400 million if they sell the Boston Globe and About.com. A total between $450 to $600 million.

This additional cash "would allow the company to meet its cash needs until mid-2010," the story says. "By then, however, if current business trends continue and the company hasn't slashed costs, the news operations will be burning cash fast." On 12.9 Blodgett estimated that the Times will need $214 million to make ends meet in '09, $546 million in '10, and $500 million in '11. A grand total of $1,260,000,000.

Face it, guys -- you're going to have to Sam Zell yourselves and then some to keep body and soul together. I hate to say it, but a lot more staffers are going to have to work from home, and the print edition may have to fall by the wayside within two or three years, if not sooner. The main thing is to keep as much of the Times editorial team intact as possible, by hook or by crook, and not to weaken the operation by shelling out for ceremonial comforts.

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on December 27, 2008 at 5:20 PM

comment #1

seduisant says ...

Thoughtful, Jeff, as usual. The dreaded solution to the Times' dilemma, however regretful, is simple.

The days of Free Internet for newspapers must surely be on the wane. The subway riders and brunch eaters will still pick up a paper copy of the Times - especially in Gotham and environs - but here in The Provinces (Boston), the Times' excellent content is easily obtained already with a couple of clicks.

Judging from the number of your 2008 posts that contained or referenced content from the Times, I'd wager you'd pay a modest sum - say $9.95 a month - to keep the Times editorial and news stream in your (and your HE readers') purview.

I'm committed to the Times' puzzle page, and I happily pay $39.95 a year for access to the daily and Sunday puzzles. Their constructors are without peer, and at 10 cents a puzzle, it's a cheaper and hassle-free way to obtain content I'd pay for anyway.

Those who place high value on the life of the mind will gladly pay for it. Remember the techno-morons who predicted the demise of printed books and magazines in the early 2000s? Well, here in 2008, it's all I can do to keep the shit boxed in my house - so much for blogger prescience.

If the paper version of the Times gets deep-sixed, we'll all be the worse for it, and maybe online subscrips or Kindle (or something like it) will replace the newsstand copies. But I hope not.

Posted by seduisant at December 28, 2008 11:03 AM

comment #2