张一帆:媒体新闻：NY Times has no plan to close IHT

INTERVIEW-NY Times has no plan to close IHT--publisher

09 Oct 2008 - 23:38
By Robert MacMillan
NEW YORK, Oct 9 (Reuters) - The New York Times Co will not shut down the International Herald Tribune, even as it prepares to absorb the IHT.com website into its own operations, IHT Publisher Stephen Dunbar-Johnson said on Thursday.
Speculation over what the New York Times Co would do with the IHT resurfaced in news articles this week after Forbes.com reported the IHT.com would be shut down.
Company officials disagreed with that characterization and released a memo from New York Times Executive Bill Keller and Dunbar-Johnson that said IHT.com would be transformed into an international news website with the Times brand attached. The new site is set to go live next spring.
"There's no plan to close The International Herald Tribune down," Dunbar-Johnson told Reuters in an interview. "The IHT isn't going anywhere."
The New York Times Co bought out The Washington Post Co's 50 percent interest in the IHT in 2003 for $65.1 million. Since then, it has slowly put more of its own identity and resources into the paper, leading some media watchers to wonder if the Times would simply scrap the IHT brand as pressure grows to cut costs.
"We've decided to keep the IHT branding because it resonates very strongly with international readers, but we also want to make it clear what we are, which is the global edition of The New York Times," said Dunbar-Johnson, 45, who became publisher last February.
The company does not reveal the IHT's financial results, but Dunbar-Johnson said the paper has made "huge progress toward profitability," adding its performance has exceeded its parent's expectations.
Keeping the IHT would help the New York Times Co expand internationally and compete with News Corp's The Wall Street Journal, said Outsell media analyst Ken Doctor.
"I think they need to think about it as if they are one company, given the tremendous pressures on cost," Doctor said.
The IHT is fighting in a tough advertising market with the likes of News Corp's Times of London as well as Pearson Plc's Financial Times.
The financial crisis is putting pressure on the paper, at least in the short term, Dunbar-Johnson said. Ad revenue is up as much as 10 percent from last year, he said, but the effects of the crisis are seeping in.
"I'm pretty worried," he said. "We're anticipating a significant softening in the last quarter and we're certainly seeing some softening in October." (Editing by Andre Grenon) ((robert.macmillan@thomsonreuters.com; +1 646 223 6012; Reuters Messaging: robert.macmillan.reuters.com@reuters.net)) Click on http://blogs.reuters.com/category/themes/mediafile/ to see Reuters MediaFile blog
Keywords: NEWYORKTIMES/IHT

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