July 22, 2008

New York Times and its plans

Thomas Lifson
Advertising Age profiles the New York Times today and reveals that the newspaper is planning to beef up its business coverage, as the Wall Street Journal moves in on the general news market:

As it happens, the Times is about to dramatically expand its business coverage online, gradually introducing a slew of pages on subjects including the economy, energy, small business, personal finance and enterprise technology, according to Vivian Schiller, senior VP-general manager of NYTimes.com. Built on the model of DealBook, Andrew Ross Sorkin's popular blog for the business section, each one will include original reporting and commentary from a dedicated staffer, news aggregated from elsewhere, relevant tools, e-mail newsletters, mobile applications and more.

Other web-friendly applications are reportedly under development as well:

The research-and-development group formed in January 2006 under Michael Zimbalist, former head of the Online Publishers Association, has stocked its lab with weird media gizmos to explore. "You need to be adjusting course as you go," Mr. Zimbalist said.

Interestingly enough, the article's friendly tone is reflected in its avoidance of the nickname "Pinch" for the paper's publisher Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, Jr., who is called simply "Arthur Sulzberger, Jr."

A worthwhile read for those who follow the the Times' business predicament.

Hat tip: David Paulin

Comments

I wouldn't buy the NYT is I were house-breaking an elephant!!! Which, btw, is all it's good for!

"Ochs". As in Phil Ochs, the socialist troubadour---whose list of influential people includes noted communists Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger? Granted, I'm not a genealogist, but--given Pinch's predilictions, it seems likely genetic.

The critical component for business news is credibility. The NYT has none and building trust on the current political bias won't do it. There are many good sources of business information and services both private and on the Web. I won't even bother giving it a chance.

This won't help the NYT declining fortunes. They'll simply put the same liberal stamp on business news (e.g., profit is evil) that is on their coverage of general news.

Besides, Business Week already does an adequate job of covering the business scene from a liberal point of view so this is redundant.

The NYT can try to move into the internet age, but the people they hire will never be able to compete with the whiz kids that are out there. What pajamas media type would ever consider going to work for someone like Arthur?

Face it, NYT, your days are numbered as is the rest of the media that is formatted on dead trees. So 18th century, yes?

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