Times ax falls on 15 in news downsizing

The New York Times is laying off 15 journalists after the company acknowledged it fell short of its goal of getting 100 people to take voluntary buyout packages.

The axing is the first-ever mass firing of journalists in the paper’s 157-year history.

The company would not confirm the precise number of layoffs, but in a memo Executive Editor Bill Keller said the ax would fall on “relatively small numbers” of staffers.

“While the overwhelming majority of our reductions did indeed come from volunteers, we have been forced to resort to a relatively small number of layoffs to meet our assigned goal,” Keller said in the memo.

He said he hopes this will be the end of the newsroom cuts. “There are, of course, no guarantees, but so far, nothing in the company’s performance or in the forecasts for the economy at large suggest we will be going through this again anytime soon,” he wrote.

Insiders said the business and national desks were spared, while the metro desk, particularly its suburban bureaus, were hit.

As of the April 22 deadline to accept the voluntary buyout package, insiders estimated that only about 70 people had stepped forward.

The cutbacks could have been worse. In December, about 13 editorial support staffers and clerks were let go. Those cuts were counted toward the company’s goal of slashing 100 jobs.

– by Keith J. Kelly

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