Why did The New York Times "break its wrist"?, Revoke former "newspaper pillar" sports department disbands sports department | New York Times

Release time:Apr 14, 2024 04:00 AM

The New York Times announced on Monday that it will disband its sports department and rely on its sports news media, The Athletic, for future sports coverage.

This move is seen as a major move by The New York Times to strengthen integration, save costs, and implement subscription strategies in the challenging media industry environment.

At the same time, as the former pillar department of the Times, the revocation of the Sports Department also means the end of a glorious history.

Significant transformation

In the public opinion, the decision to cut off the Sports Department is a "major transformation" and "major measure" of the Times.

Because in the history of The New York Times, the sports department has been renowned.

The department's history can be traced back to reporting on the first Athens Olympics in 1896. The Department of Sports has also witnessed important milestones and figures in American sports over the past century. For decades, the department has also been a major producer of daily news for The Times, especially the Sports column founded in 1927, which has been a pillar of American sports news. Several journalists have won the Pulitzer Prize in Journalism.

Why is the "Grey Lady" determined to "break her wrist" in such a meritorious department? The big shots of the Times spoke out on Monday to explain.

New York Times Chairman Suzberg and CEO Meredith stated in a memo that the newspaper's goal is to provide "richer sports coverage than ever before.". The revocation of the Sports Department will maximize the advantages of both The Times and The Athletic News Editorial Department.

The New York Times executive editor Joe Kahn and deputy editor Monica Drake attribute the reason for the department closure to "changing the way sports are reported.".

"We plan to pay more direct attention to unique and influential news, focusing on the relationship between sports and money, power, culture, politics, and society as a whole." Kahn and Drake wrote in an email sent to the Times' editorial department on Monday morning, "At the same time, we will reduce the news editorial department's coverage of games, players, teams, and leagues."

Strengthen integration

Reuters and The Wall Street Journal believe that the cancellation of the sports department reflects the Times' efforts to further integrate the sports media acquired last year, The Athletic, to drive its established strategy of integrating multiple digital content such as news, cooking, games, and sports into a bundled paid content package, offering "bundled sales" to users.

Last January, The New York Times spent $550 million to acquire sports news media outlet The Athletic to expand its coverage of sports, while also seeking to integrate sports news into a range of subscription products including recipes and games. The senior management of the Times stated that acquisitions can help attract a wider audience.

The Athletic has approximately 400 journalists in North America and Europe, publishing approximately 150 articles per day. As of March this year, the number of payment accounts has increased from over 1 million at the time of acquisition to over 3 million. Meanwhile, it also helped The New York Times achieve its target of 10 million subscriptions three years ahead of schedule.

"Since acquiring The Athletic 18 months ago, our goal has been to become a global leader in sports news, which is an important pillar of our company's strategy," Suzberg and Meredith wrote in a memo on Monday.

However, The Athletic is still in a loss making state, with a loss of $7.8 million in the first quarter of this year. Its goal is to achieve profitability by 2025.

In the eyes of the senior management of The Athletic, there is a clear overlap in the reporting between The Athletic and The Sports Department of The Times. According to Kahn, the Times has more journalists reporting on sports than any other news, so more integration is needed.

Of course, the revocation of the Sports Department by The Times to strengthen integration highlights the environmental changes faced by the media industry.

"This is a sign that the media landscape is facing challenges," commented American media.

On the one hand, in recent years, with the rise of digital media, like other national and local newspapers in the United States, the Sports Department of The Times has begun to downsize. When The Times announced its acquisition of The Athletic at the beginning of last year, it had already raised doubts about the future fate of the newspaper's sports department.

On the other hand, the Times is also facing cost pressure. Reuters reported that in the face of high inflation and rising interest rates, advertisers are reducing their spending and consumers are reconsidering subscription services, which has forced multiple media outlets such as BuzzFeed, ABC News, and Bell Canada to lay off employees. In this context, the "Grey Lady" has been seeking to reduce costs.

In fact, the acquisition of The Athletic last year was also a strategic consideration for expanding the paid user base due to the continuous decline of newspaper print advertising business.

In Monday's memo, Times Chairman Suzberg and CEO Meredith emphasized that revoking the sports department and continuing to implement subscription strategies are part of responding to changes at a time when the industry is facing significant pressure. This will put the Times in a more advantageous position in fulfilling its mission and serving its audience.

The End of History

According to The New York Times, after the sports department is disbanded, The Athletic will provide readers with most of the coverage on sports events, athletes, and leagues in terms of content. At the same time, The Athletic will also contribute to The Times, and its report will be published for the first time in the print edition of The Times newspaper. Users who subscribe to the bundled products of The Times can also access The Athletic online.

In terms of personnel, the Times has no layoff plan, and more than 30 editorial staff from the Sports Department will be transferred to other positions in the News Editing Department.

According to the Times, these more than 30 journalists will continue to write popular sports related news, including investigating the business, culture, and power structure behind sports.

Although there is no layoff plan, the sports department's editorial staff feel uneasy about the latest changes.

Some of them have expressed concerns that some jobs related to sports reporting may be cancelled, and they may be transferred to other reporting positions at The Athletic or The Times in the future, and may even face the risk of layoffs.

The Times Union also fiercely criticized this move, stating that sports editors have "hardly received any notification.". Several employees only learned about this decision through a news alert from The New York Times pushed on their mobile phones.

However, no matter what the new arrangement may be, what saddens the sports department reporters is that the glorious history of the sports department of The Times will come to an end.

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