NY Observer > Bill Keller

Layoffs at the Times; Keller Says 'We Hope the Worst is Behind Us'

John Koblin — Wed, 07 May 2008 12:36:09 -0400

There will be layoffs at The Times. In an emotionally charged memo, Bill Keller writes that the vast majority of the 100 newsroom job cuts he announced back in February will come through buyouts, but the paper is "forced to resort" to laying the rest off. He said the paper will not disclose numbers or names in this "usettling and dispiriting time."

In the memo, he vehemently thanks reporters and editors at the paper for their service, as well as the Sulzbergers, and then says, "it is time to regroup."

He writes:

Most important, we retain the strongest team of talented journalists in the business, and they—you—remain the key to all of our ambitions.

Now it is time to regroup and move forward. In the coming weeks we will be working with department heads to reorganize and reimagine our coverage to ensure the quality journalism that is our standard. When we met in the Times Center in February, I told you that we were facing two seemingly contradictory challenges in the coming year. On the one hand, we must reduce our staffing and costs. On the other hand, we must do whatever we can to strengthen our competitive position. As I said then, that will mean our staff cuts will be offset a little by some investments to ensure, among other things, that we are well equipped to navigate the passage to our digital future.

Entire memo after the jump ... read more »

Case Against Times' Barry Bearak Thrown Out; He's Leaving Zimbabwe

John Koblin — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 16:58:57 -0400

Barry Bearak is on his way home. Here's the statement from Bill Keller, sent to us through the Times spokeswoman Catherine Mathis:

Barry's family, friends and colleagues are overjoyed that the court threw out the preposterous charges against him, and that he is on his way home. His only offense was honest journalism, telling Zimbabwe's story at a time of tormented transition. He had no intention of becoming part of that story. read more »

Times: 'We Expect' Layoffs

John Koblin — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 15:59:24 -0400

The New York Times announced that it's all but a done deal that the paper will have to layoff staffers in the newsroom.

The drop-dead deadline is fast approaching for the staffers in The New York Times newsroom to raise their hand and volunteer for a buyout. An internal memo from the paper's assistant managing editor, Bill Schmidt, just went out and said that "we expect" that the buyout numbers aren't looking good and that for the first time the paper will be forced to cut the newsroom through layoffs.

"While layoffs have become all too common across our industry, this is the first time the newsroom as a whole has confronted that blunt reality, and we approach it with a heavy heart," he said in the e-mail.

The entire memo is below: read more »

Pulitzer Day: Keller Brings Up ASME's, Polks; WaPo Rager

John Koblin — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 19:28:50 -0400

At a little after 3 p.m. on Monday, April 7, New York Times executive editor Bill Keller grabbed a microphone and took to a landing on one of the floating red-walled staircases that climb up into his brand-new newsroom’s skylit clerestory. It was Pulitzer day, and the first time this kind of stand-up-in-the-newsroom ceremony was being observed in the new Renzo Piano-designed tower the newspaper moved into last May. read more »

In Pulitzer Race, Bill Keller Does Not Yet Catch Howell Raines

Choire Sicha and Tom Scocca — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 06:55:00 -0400

The New York Times under executive editor Bill Keller still has fewer Pulitzer victories to its credit than during the short-lived reign of his predecessor, Howell Raines.

Under Raines, who served approximately 21 months before resigning in 2003 in the wake of the Jayson Blair scandal, the paper's news pages published seven Pulitzer-winning entries.

In more than twice that span of time—53 Pulitzer-eligible months as executive editor—Keller has published six Pulitzer winners. read more »

Walt Bogdanich on His Third Pultizer: 'A Thrill'

John Koblin — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 06:40:50 -0400

Yesterday, the Pulitzer Prize administrator, Sig Gissler, told a group of reporters, "The old cliché is that when you win a Pulitzer, the first line of your obituary has been written." Yes, but what if you win three? read more »

Times: Despite Top Zimbabwean Officials' Admission the Case Is Groundless, Barry Bearak Remains in 'Frigid Cell'

John Koblin — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 18:28:17 -0400

Barry Bearak is still in jail. Top officials in Zimbabwe agreed the case against him was groundless, but according to Bill Keller, the state's lawyers overruled them and he'll remain in prison for a second night.

Here is Bill Keller's statement, sent to us through a Times spokeswoman, Catherine Mathis: read more »

Legendary Photographer Dith Pran Dead at 65

John Koblin — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 16:07:28 -0400

Dith Pran, the New York Times photographer whose disappearance and escape from the clutches of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia was famously chronicled in the movie The Killing Fields, died today in New Jersey. He was 65. read more »

Times Hires Its Weekend Editor, Alison Mitchell [Updated]

John Koblin — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 17:51:25 -0400

For some weeks now, New York Times editors have been pinch-hitting in the role of weekend editor, ever since the paper announced Marty Gottlieb was moving on in a role to help work out the paper's relationship with the IHT.

Now they've got their full-time replacement: Alison Mitchell. She's been promoted to associate managing editor. (We've sent out an e-mail to a spokeswoman to find out if that means she'll be on the masthead. We'll update you when we find out.)

For now, here's the memo: read more »

William Grimes Is New Obit Writer for the Times

John Koblin — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 12:13:30 -0500

Bill Keller sent out a 384-word memo this morning announcing that William Grimes will become the new obit writer for the paper.

Here's the memo:

To the Staff:

There are some bylines that are, by general acclamation, must reads. William Grimes is one. No matter the subject, no matter the headline, Biff’s name atop a column of type is enough to encourage a reader to take the plunge. It’s a byline that carries a signature, a blend (or call it a cocktail — Biff wrote a book about drinks) of gentle wit, graceful style
and wide-ranging erudition. read more »