The New York Times laid off 100 people and cut pay for most employees last year for a nine-month period. All employees except two: Chairman Arthur Sulzberger Jr. and Chief Executive Janet L. Robinson. According to The Wall Street Journal, both Arthur Sulzberger Jr. and Janet L. Robinson got huge increases. Janet L. Robinson's overall pay jumped 32 percent to 6.3 million; Arthur Sulzberger Jr.'s pay rose to $6 million, double the $3 million of a year before.
What's alarming is Sulzberger and Robinson took these raises while asking their employees to suffer pay cuts and job losses. In May of 2009, Vanity Fair's Mark Bowden wrote that a "doomsday clock" was ticking for newspapers, and Sulzberger was "struggling to keep his family's prized asset alive." Yeah, he's really working hard to do that, huh?
What Sulzberger and Robinson should have done is put those raises back into The New York Times and maintained as much of their staff intact as possible, pay levels and all.
Sulzberger has cried about the New York Times' problems to anyone who would listen. He's given speeches on the impact of the Internet and Google, in particular, on the news industry, as he did at last year's Webby Awards in this video:
But when it comes time to show that he's trying to save the NY Times, he works to make sure he gets as much money as he can.
It's not too late for Sulzberger and Robinson to reverse their fiscal course and help the people of The New York Times. Let's see if they do the right thing. Otherwise, if newspaper owners and managers like Sulzberger and Robinson are going to be greedy, why should the Federal Government bail them out?
Stay tuned.
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