Most people are looking for newspapers to either hold on or die – online growth often doesn’t appear to allow for any other options. But The New York Times Co. actually believes its revenues increased by a small amount in November, and has a positive outlook after that, as well.
“[T]he company continued to cut costs, expecting to reduce operating costs by $230 million over the next two years from its 2007 cost base, via the consolidation of printing plants, reducing newspaper page sizes and the planned streamlining of other operations,” reports Louis Hau.
He then continues, “Among the anticipated job cuts will be layoffs in the Times newsroom of non-journalist support staff,” which might not be quite so cheery. Also, cost-cutting can only be taken so far – the company can’t sell small, blank pieces of cheap paper. Still, these measures are having an effect on the almighty bottom line, and increased digital and circulation revenues are playing a role in the turnaround, as well.
If those last two factors can pull a fair amount of weight, The New York Times Co. will do all right. And at least one onlooker believes this should be the case; Hau reports that Benchmark Capital changed its rating on the media company’s stock from “hold” to “buy.”
