NY Times Investigating Plagiarism Allegations

NEW YORK (AP) - The New York Times is looking into the work of one its reporters following accusations that he plagiarized from The Wall Street Journal and other sources.

The newspaper published an editor's note online Sunday and in papers Monday that said reporter Zachery Kouwe "appears to have improperly appropriated wording and passages published by other news organizations."

The Times said Journal editors pointed out similarities between a Journal story from Feb. 5 and Times pieces later that day and on Feb. 6. The Times said that a search found similar examples taken from media outlets such as Reuters and that an investigation was ongoing.

Kouwe declined to comment on Tuesday.

The Journal's letter listed six examples from a story about Wall Street swindler Bernard Madoff's relatives.

Among the examples was a sentence from Journal reporter Amir Efrati that read, "Mr. Picard said the family received about $141 million in the six months leading up to Mr. Madoff's December 2008 arrest." The letter pointed out that Kouwe's version read, "Mr. Picard said the family received about $141 million in the six months leading up to Mr. Madoff's arrest in December 2008."

The Times said that a search of Kouwe's work didn't turn up any indications that his stories had any inaccuracies. The newspaper declined to comment on any penalties Kouwe could face.

However, the Times reported on its Web site Tuesday night that two people speaking on condition of anonymity said Kouwe resigned at a meeting late Tuesday afternoon with representatives of the Times, The New York Times Co. and the Newspaper Guild of New York to discuss possible disciplinary action.

"The Times has dealt with this, as we said we would in our Editors' Note, consistent with our standards to protect the integrity of our journalism," Times spokeswoman Diane McNulty said.

In 2003, Times reporter Jayson Blair resigned from the paper after it became clear that he had engaged in plagiarism and fabrications in his work.

NY Times To Begin Charging For Content in 2011

Reuters

The New York Times will make people pay for articles online starting next year, marking a big move by a prominent newspaper to find ways to survive on the Web as print subscriptions and advertising sales fall.

The New York Times Co (NYT.N) said on Wednesday that it would use a "metered model," charging readers for access after they read a certain number of articles in a month.

People who get the paper delivered at home would get free access to the website.

"This process of rethinking our business model has also been driven by our desire to achieve additional revenue diversity that will make us less susceptible to the inevitable economic cycles," Chief Executive Janet Robinson said in a statement.

The move strikes at the heart of a debate within the publishing business -- whether to continue giving away valuable news and features on the Web, or start charging at the risk of losing readers.

The New York Times, which has experimented with charging for Web content, provided little detail on its latest plan. But on the face of it, the proposed model appears similar to what the Financial Times does on its website.

"It's a big deal for the industry because the question that's been out there for a year or more is whether the general news, the mass news publishers would go in a paid-content direction," said Rob Grimshaw, the FT.com's managing director. "A major player breaking cover on something like this is a bit step."

The debate over whether newspapers should make people pay for Web news has bubbled for a decade or more. It grew more urgent in the past two years as ad revenue declines sharpened.

The recession and the collapse of the housing market lent an intensity to the debate as U.S. newspaper publisher stocks tanked, thousands of journalists were furloughed or laid off and newspaper bankruptcies and closings increased.

The New York Times has faced its own problems in this respect, and has bought out and laid off some of its journalists to cut newsroom costs. Last year, it threatened to close The Boston Globe unless it extracted millions of dollars in concessions from its unions.

The major question is whether attempts to charge drive away online readers used to getting the news for free. Websites attract advertisers by showing that they have large numbers of visitors. Any move to stop the spigot of free news, or to limit access to it, could drive away large numbers of visitors.

"The obvious downside risk that they very likely lose half their current readership, meaning ad revenue will go down by half as well," said Forrester Research analyst James McQuivey.

The New York Times would consider the launch a success if they have 250,000 paid Web subscribers by the end of its first year, McQuivey said.

Today, the New York Times site has around 20 million unique visitors a month, according to Nielsen Research.

Only a few U.S. newspapers, including News Corp's (NWSA.O) Wall Street Journal, charge for access to articles on its website. WSJ.com has more than 1 million paid users.

New York Times previously charged for some Web content in a program called TimesSelect, which walled off some of its offerings, including commentary by well known columnists such as Maureen Dowd and Thomas Friedman.

It ended TimesSelect in 2007 after two years, saying it did not attract as many users and as much revenue that it wanted.

Online ad revenue has failed to make up for the print revenue declines of most traditional news organizations like newspapers and magazines.

"Most news organizations are really optimized to be subsidized by print advertising that's fallen out of the market," said Forrester's McQuivey.

Times to Reap $45 Million From Station Sale to Univision

By The Wall Street Journal

New York Times Co. agreed to sell its New York City radio-station license to Univision Communications Inc., in a deal that will net the publisher $45 million as it seeks to stabilize its finances.

The spot on the dial will be converted from a classical-music station to Spanish-language programming, but under a three-way transaction, the classical format will continue, further up the dial under public-radio ownership.

Under the terms of the deal, announced Tuesday, Univision Radio will pay Times Co. $33.5 million for the Federal Communications Commission license, equipment and signal of WQXR-FM, its classical music station in New York. As part of the deal, Univision will give Times Co. the license and transmitting equipment for a less powerful station, which Times Co. will then sell -- with the QXR call letters and brand -- to WNYC Radio for $11.5 million.

Univision Radio will move its WCAA station to the stronger signal in a deal Univision executives said will allow it to expand its coverage of New York's Hispanic population.

The transaction, expected to close by year's end, continues Times Co.'s efforts to shed non-core assets at a time when steep declines in advertising have squeezed the New York Times's profit and hampered the company in managing its long-term debt.

WQXR's classical format will find a new home on public radio, but with its new, weaker signal, many fans might not be able to hear it. The signal won't be as strong as it is at present in parts of Long Island and New Jersey, for example.

WQXR, which has broadcast classical music for 73 years, "is the nation's pre-eminent classical music station," said Janet Robinson, president and chief executive of Times Co., in a statement. "We are very pleased that this transaction will preserve WQXR's ability to serve New York City's classical music audience and its cultural institutions as a public radio station."

Just 275 of the nation's 13,000 radio stations carry classical music, but their listeners tend to be well-educated, relatively wealthy and loyal. When Washington, D.C.. public-radio station WETA dropped the classical format for news and talk in 2005, its ratings dropped. It returned to classical music in 2007.

Public radio organizations are building up networks of stations, realizing many of the same efficiencies as commercial radio station groups, such as the ability to cross-sell on-air sponsorship slots. American Public Media's Minnesota Public Radio is perhaps the best-known example, operating a network of 38 stations in the region. WNYC works with New York Times Co. and other partners on the public radio morning news show "The Takeaway," which will be unaffected by the sale of WQXR.

Times Co. posted a loss of $74.5 million for the first quarter as advertising revenue fell 27% from a year earlier. The company had over $1 billion in debt and $33.6 million in cash at the end of the quarter.

In March, Times Co. sold the TimesDaily, an Alabama newspaper that is part of the company's Regional Media Group, for $11.5 million. Currently it is shopping the Boston Globe as well as Times Co.'s nearly 18% stake in the holding company of the Boston Red Sox.

Mexico's Phone Lord Gains Control of New York Times

Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim and his family have accumulated a 6.4% stake in New York Times Co., making them one of the largest shareholders in the newspaper publisher outside of the controlling Ochs-Sulzberger family, New York Times Co. disclosed late Wednesday in a regulatory filing.

Mr. Slim, the world's second-richest man according to Forbes, owned 9.1 million Class A common shares as of Sept. 4.

The investment by Mr. Slim comes as the company faces financial pressure. The migration of readers and advertisers from print to the Web has led to steep advertising declines that have accelerated amid the U.S. economic slump. Print-ad revenue for New York Times Co.'s News Media Group, which includes the Times, the Boston Globe and several other papers, declined 14% in the first half of 2008, while the company's stock price recently fell to its lowest point in about a decade. Shares have fallen 32% over the past 52 weeks.

The company's performance earlier this year led to a proxy battle by the hedge fund Harbinger Capital Partners and investment company Firebrand Partners LLC, which together were seeking four seats on New York Times Co.'s board and strategic changes at the company. In March, New York Times Co. granted the group two board seats.

But the pressure on the Times to reduce costs has intensified as its performance has continued to decline. For the first time, the paper in May laid off newsroom employees as part of an effort to cut 100 jobs. Late last week, the Times announced plans to consolidate some sections of the New York edition of the paper beginning in October. And this week, the company said it will close its distribution subsidiary in January in a move that will eliminate 550 jobs.

Mr. Slim, whose wealth is valued at an estimated $60 billion, made his fortune in the telecommunications industry. He controls America Movil SA, the largest wireless-service provider in Latin America, and Telmex, Mexico's largest fixed-line company

Mr. Slim's motivations are unclear. Mr. Slim told Reuters Wednesday that the investment was strictly financial. The Ochs-Sulzberger family maintains control of the company through ownership of a special class of super-voting shares that elect 70% of the board, meaning outside shareholders have little hope of forcing change. New York Times Co. declined to comment.

By: Russell Adams
Wall Street Journal; September 12, 2008