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New York Times: We Probably Won’t Shutter the Boston Globe

boston-globe

Good news, Boston Globe fans: Your paper is going to remain extant. Probably.

Bad news, Boston Globe editorial workers: You’re getting a 23 percent pay cut.

That’s the fallout after the Globe’s Newspaper Guild rejected management’s previous offer, which would have involved an 8.4 percent pay cut, which was made at the behest of the New York Times (NYT), which owns the Globe.

The Times had previously said that it needed to cut the Globe’s costs by $20 million or it would fold the paper, because it was on track to lose $85 million this year. The new cuts, announced today, will get the paper to its cost-cutting goal, so everything’s cool. For now.

Here’s Times spokeswoman Catherine Mathis’ statement, via…the Boston Globe:

“Because we have achieved the $20 million in savings we needed, we do not foresee closure at this time and are focused on executing the Globe’s turnaround plan.”

Comments

  1. Who is going to stay after a 23% pay cut?
    Everyone will be looking for new jobs. Productivity will go into the crapper.
    Sure, it will take time for those people to find new jobs, but then, adios.

    Posted by Dave Barnes at June 9th, 2009 at 12:49 pm
  2. Morale wasn’t too hot to begin with, Dave. And finding new jobs, for many of these folks, will take a really, really long time.

    Posted by Peter Kafka at June 10th, 2009 at 9:32 am

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Peter Kafka has been covering media and technology since 1997, when he joined the staff of Forbes magazine. Most recently, he has been the managing editor of the tech and media Web site, Silicon Alley Insider. Read more »

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