Don't Panic, America!

Far, far away from the tribulations and precariousness of ordinary humans, I'm sure America's Most Ubiquitous Conservative Public Intellectual will remain indestructible.

From MoJo:

New York Times Signals More Newsroom Layoffs Are Imminent

An email sent to staff Thursday also details the end of certain perks.

—By James West | Thu Nov. 20, 2014 2:40 PM EST

The New York Times indicated today that it's getting close to a round of forced layoffs of its journalists.

The newsroom-wide email sent Thursday morning, obtained by Mother Jones, details responses to employee questions about a scheduled buyout program from Janet Elder, a deputy executive editor at the company. The email states that, "the most frequently asked question is about scale and whether or not there will be enough buyouts to avoid layoffs. Given that the buyout window is still open, it's hard to have an absolute answer to that question just yet. Early efforts to handicap the outcome regrettably point to having to do some layoffs."

The email says the buyout window for newsroom employees closes on December 1, 2014. Danielle Rhoades Ha, a director of communications at the New York Times Company, confirmed the email from Elder and said there would be no further information made public at present about the buyout program or layoffs.

The Times announced a plan in October to cut 100 newsroom jobs starting with a buyout program. Dean Baquet, the executive editor, wrote to staff then that layoffs were possible if not enough volunteers stepped forward: "We hope to meet this number through voluntary buyouts. But if we don’t get there we will be forced to do layoffs.​" At the end of October, the New York Times Company reported lower-than-expected quarterly revenue, and projected a further slowdown in ad sales, according to Reuters.

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