According to Suw Charman at her blog Corante http://strange.corante.com/archives/2007/12/21/working_at_the_speed_of_news_not_the_speed_of_the_press.php
she "is a social software consultant and writer who specialises in the use of blogs and wikis behind the firewall. With a background in journalism, publishing and web design, Suw is now one of the UK's best known bloggers, frequently speaking at conferences and seminars."
She met Michael Golden last year and this is what she reports him as saying to her:
"Chuck [Kersher http://www.blogger.com/profile/04676592193683427920] also asserts that the New York Times has suffered as a paper since its focus has shifted to the internet. Have I got news for you Chuck, their focus has shifted to the internet because their business is shifting to the internet. I met the publisher of the International Herald Tribune last year, and their strategy was to grow the online business as quickly as possible. If they have five to 10 years to make that happen, he said the New York Times was OK. If they only had three to five years to do that, well, they might just be out of the journalism business, not just the 'newspapering' business."
That's interesting - taking Suw met Golden last year, the NYT has 2-4 years to make it as an online business or they might be out of business.
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Hello,
I think I need to clarify what I thought Mr Golden was saying. It's no secret that the New York Times and by extension the IHT have a sense of urgency in terms of growing their business online. I think Mr Golden's concern was that the print business might erode so quickly that they couldn't build up the online business fast enough to offset the declines in revenue. The print business isn't booming for New York Times, but it would be quite a stretch to say that it's in collapse.
I think the 3-5 year time window was a worse case scenario at that time. They might well have longer than that, and it doesn't take into account whether they have been successful in their online transition. One important thing to note is that since the NYTimes ended Times Select, they saw a 64% increase in site visitors:
http://www.bivingsreport.com/2007/new-york-times-traffic-surges/
That will have a positive impact on ad revenue.
Also, Suw and I blog together at Strange Attractor, but I was the one who wrote the post.
best,
Kevin Anderson
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