Photo: Patrick McMullan
We’re feeling sort of bad for Pinch Sulzberger. Not only is the
Times under attack by activist shareholders trying to place their own
snatchbuckling vagilantes on the board in order to tell him how to run his business, he also has to deal with growing tension between the business and editorial sides over newsroom cuts he
said last month were imminent. Apparently, the business side is acting all smug about the impending layoffs, since they think, a source tells
Portfolio, “they’ve taken the majority of the hits so far while the newsroom has stayed untouched.” Meanwhile, the editorial side, more neurotic than ever, has got its back up about the effectiveness of the business side: “Are they doing all that they can to operate in such a way that the business could be profitable enough to pay for all that great journalism?” one
Times source asks
Portfolio, of the business side. But really, can’t they all just get along? “Having a big fat debate … while Murdoch’s saying ‘I’m going to take you out’ — tell me how that’s supposed to make sense,” a former
Times exec beseeched
Portfolio. “They ought to be looking outward, at how they can work together.” It’s enough to give anyone an ulcer. Or something more serious? “Page Six” reported today that Pinch has sold his wife their Central Park condo —
for estate-planning purposes. Pinch is only 57! Does he think this is going to drive him to an early
grave?
Strife at the New York Times [Portfolio]
Penny Pinch-er [NYP]
