Nah! That’s Not in Their Job Description

Here’s how a definition gone wrong can lead to a debilitating public controversy. But hey, controversy drives traffic, so what the heck, right?

The Big Picture
by Glynn Wilson

It’s been a long time, but the New York Times is back in the business of pumping up the traffic to its Website with news about itself.

Predictably, once again, it is doing the news organization’s reputation more harm than good in the long run. Will they ever learn from their own history? The documents are right there under their noses.

The problem is, it might cost them a massive amount of corporate advertising to tell the truth, and they would lose a few Republican readers in the process.

An explanation is in order. You came to the right place for this one.

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by Glynn Wilson

I am still scratching my head as I re-read the New York Times feature obituary on William Safire, wondering how in the world the nation’s newspaper of record could get things so wrong in the end.

The power vacuum created at the Times when Howell Raines resigned really has left the former U.S. newspaper of record with a talent void — in spite of the TV commercials to the contrary.

I mean look at this lede. Do you see anything wrong?

William Safire, a speechwriter for President Richard M. Nixon and a Pulitzer Prize-winning political columnist for The New York Times who also wrote novels, books on politics and a Malaprop’s treasury of articles on language, died at a hospice in Rockville, Md., on Sunday. He was 79. The cause was pancreatic cancer…

NY Times Columnist William Safire Dies at 79

Do you know what a malaprop is? According to Wikipedia, which of course is banned in links from the NYTimes online, a malaprop is the substitution of an incorrect word for a word with a similar sound, in which the resulting phrase makes no sense but often creates a comic effect.

What Safire wrote was a dictionary for terms used in politics not otherwise found in a regular dictionary, terms such as “trial balloon” and the like. I’ve had a copy since the early 1980s, when I first studied political science and journalism at the University of Alabama and became a fan of Safire’s columns in the paper and the Sunday magazine.

Maybe in the end the Times‘ new management got mad at Safire for something, or maybe they just hired the wrong guy to write his obit. It doesn’t do him justice.

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by Glynn Wilson

The New York Times newspaper company is in such financial dire straights that it has announced a 2.5 percent salary reduction at its regional newspapers, which now includes The Tuscaloosa News and The Gadsden Times in Alabama since the company announced the sale of The Florence Times Daily last week.

This letter was sent out to Times employees via e-mail this week.

Dear Colleagues,

As you know, the global economic crisis is taking its toll on a broad range of businesses and sectors, here in the U.S. and around the world. We have reported in our own newspapers and on our own Web sites that the economy is likely to continue struggling throughout this year and possibly longer.

Given this economic outlook and the changes occurring in the media business, we, regrettably, must take even more steps to lower costs. We have been, and continue to, reorganize and reduce our staff, which means we are saying goodbye to many of our close colleagues. Now, in addition, we are lowering salaries through the end of this year for all remaining nonunion employees and, in exchange, providing additional time off. We plan to approach the Newspaper Guild in New York to ask for its participation in the program and to continue working with our unions in Boston and our other locations on lowering our costs, including wage reductions.

The salaries of all employees at The New York Times Media Group (with the exception of the IHT, which is working on other cost reduction measures), The Boston Globe, Boston.com and Corporate in New York will be rolled back by 5%, starting this April, and these employees will receive 10 additional days off to use before the end of the year.

At the About Group, Baseline, Globe Direct, International Media Concepts, Regional Media Group, Shared Services Center and Worcester Telegram & Gazette, the approach is similar, with salaries being rolled back by 2.5% with five additional days off. We made the distinction between the two groups by taking into account location and other factors. Next year, we plan to return salaries to their current levels. Of course, such a decision depends on the state of our business.

Many of you will have questions about these actions. Your manager or department head has been briefed with more details and is your best source of information.

This was a very difficult decision to make. The environment we are in is the toughest we have seen in our years in business. Across our Company, you and your colleagues have worked hard to introduce innovative products and services, reduce expenses and improve productivity. We are deeply grateful for your efforts and proud of your achievements. As we take these painful steps together, we remain confident that our great Company will keep moving forward to better times.

Sincerely,
Arthur and Janet

The Times announced last week it was selling its newspaper in Florence, the TimesDaily, to the company that publishes The Decatur Daily, an independently owned newspaper also in north Alabama.

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