Too Many People May Want To Leave The New York Times

People pass the New York Times building in New York, Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2012. The New York Times Co.'s stock rose on Thursday, Oct. 11, 2012, after an analyst raised his rating and price target on the shares. (AP ... People pass the New York Times building in New York, Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2012. The New York Times Co.'s stock rose on Thursday, Oct. 11, 2012, after an analyst raised his rating and price target on the shares. (AP Photo/Richard Drew) MORE LESS
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The New York Times announced earlier this month that it would aim to cut 100 newsroom jobs through a voluntary buyout program. If that number wasn’t met, executive editor Dean Baquet told staffers, the paper would resort to layoffs.

That apparently may not be necessary.

The New York Post’s Keith J. Kelly reported Tuesday night on what may be a “veritable stampede for the exits” at the Times.

Grant Glickson, the unit representative of the Newspaper Guild, told Kelly that the Times received “over 300 requests” for information about buyouts by the Oct. 17 deadline.

“A lot of people were just securing their rights and checking it out,” Glickson said.

Glickson doesn’t expect that many staffers to bolt but he said the 300-plus number is a lot higher than the voluntary buyout requests submitted in 2012, when the Times failed to meet its 100-person goal and was forced to lay off 15 staffers.

Editorial note: This post has been updated to clarify that the staffers have only requested information about the buyouts, but have not necessarily asked for the buyouts themselves.

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Notable Replies

  1. Looks like the Grey Lady is about on her deathbed.

  2. Sounds like the buyouts must be pretty tempting. Anyone know what they’re offering?

  3. Even fewer practicing Copy Editors.

    Alas.

  4. Worry not - we will always have Peter Baker, Jonathan Martin and Tom Friedman to entertain us with their never ending hackery

  5. Looks like the question uppermost in the minds of most NYT newsroom workers is “How do I get out of this chickenshit outfit?”

    Classic – 300 “Fuck it – I quit” moments.

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