New York Times selling Boston Globe, New England Media Group
A man walks outside The Boston Globe offices on May 4, 2009 in Dorchester, Massachusetts.
Saying it needs to concentrate on its core business, owners of The New York Times announced today they are trying to sell the Boston Globe and other regional newspapers in further cost-cutting moves.
Bloomberg first reported that The New York Times Company is trying to sell the New England Media Group which includes the Globe, Boston.com, Worcester Telegram & Gazette and other assets.
"This was not an easy decision as the New England Media Group has, for many years, brought tremendous value to our Company," NYT owners Arthur and Mark Sulzberger said in an e-mail sent to all New York Times employees, obtained by GlobalPost.
"While part of the Times Company, The Boston Globe has been awarded 10 Pulitzer Prizes and many other professional awards."
"We want to take this opportunity to thank our colleagues at the Globe and T&G for their many substantial contributions to our journalistic reputation and to our Company overall," they added.
Selling the Globe would leave the Times Company without any products outside its core New York Times newspaper business, which includes the International Herald Tribune in Europe.
The Ochs-Sulzberger family has sold many of its other brands recently, divesting itself of About.com, Fenway Sports Group and 16 regional newspapers in deals worth more than a combined $500 million.
It lost an estimated $100 million in the About.com deal.
The Times said it purchased the Globe in 1993 for $1.1 billion, but steep drops in circulation have cut into the bottom line.
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More than 230,000 people subscribe to the Globe, a loss of nearly half in a decade.
Times CEO Mark Thompson said the company needs to concentrate on “our strategic focus and investment.”
“We are very proud of our association with the Globe and the Telegram & Gazette, but given the differences between these businesses and The New York Times, we believe that a sale is in the best long-term interests of these properties and the employees who work for them as well as in the best interests of our shareholders,” he said in a press release.
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