New York Times cuts sections to save money

By Robert MacMillan

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York Times Co's flagship newspaper plans to eliminate several weekly sections and cut freelance spending to save millions of dollars in annual costs, according to a memo obtained by Reuters.

The Times's moves, which it also reported through an article on its website on Thursday, is the latest effort to cut costs by the struggling newspaper publisher.

"Taken together, these moves will save millions of dollars -- savings that would otherwise have to come out of payroll," Executive Editor Bill Keller wrote to employees on Thursday.

The paper is cutting pay for nonunionized employees at the Times and other papers and is seeking similar concessions from unionized employees. It also has threatened to close the money-losing Boston Globe should it not find ways to cut millions of dollars in costs.

In a copy of the memo obtained by Reuters, Keller said that he does not know how the Globe's situation will be resolved, but said financial forecasts for the parent company have not changed in the past month.

He would not rule out job cuts. "As I have said on past occasions, there is nothing sacrosanct about the current size of the newsroom, but if the day comes when we decide to undertake a cut in the staff, it should be driven not by the temporary crisis of a recession, but by a careful calculation of our long-term priorities."

A New York Times spokeswoman was not immediately available for comment.

The Times will cut weekly sections covering New York City and nearby locations, including New York's Long Island and Westchester County, along with New Jersey and Connecticut, according to the article on the Times's website.