Infinite Monkeys

Fire Sale on West 43rd Street?

Oh, dear. Looks like Pinch Sulzberger is in a bit of a pickle. At this rate, he might need to hold another yard sale.

As Bloomberg News reports: "Morgan Stanley, the second-biggest shareholder in New York Times Co., sold its entire 7.3 percent stake today, according to a person briefed on the transaction, sending the stock to its lowest in more than 10 years." The reason? "Hassan Elmasry, managing director of Morgan Stanley Investment Management... has pressured New York Times Chairman and Publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. for more than 1 1/2 years to eliminate the special class of stock that allows the Sulzberger and Ochs families to appoint nine of the company's 13 directors. During the campaign, Elmasry also called on Sulzberger, 56, to relinquish one of his two titles at the New York-based publishing company."

Newspapers in general are suffering and investors are clamoring for change. But the Times in particular has long been out of touch with readers and with Wall Street. In a word, the Times' management stinks. As Ed Lasky at the American Thinker observes, "The running (or running down of the newspaper) by 'Pinch' Sulzberger, descendant of the family which had purchased and remade the paper generations ago, has progressively destroyed the value of the Times."

I love newspapers, but I wouldn't buy stock in one if you put a gun to my head. Not until they get their act together again. The New York Times might survive the transformation from Gray Lady to a reliable news source in the digital era. But not with Sulzberger in the publisher's suite.

Incidentally, one of the many links above leads to a blog called Reflections of a Newsosaur. Written by Alan Mutter, a principal with Silcon Valley-based Tapit Partners and a former managing editor of the San Francisco Chronicle, the blog offers some of the keenest insights around on what's afflicting the newspaper biz today. Well worth a bookmark.

Posted by Ben at October 17, 2007 02:34 PM