To: Carolyn who wrote (561 ) 10/29/2012 5:24:31 PM From: joseffy Respond to of 826 In Despair, New York Times Pens Suicide Note Townhall By John Ransom 10/29/2012 Excerpt: The common stock of the New York Times (NYSE: NYT) plunged from $10.87 last week to a close of $8.19 on Friday after the liberal mouthpiece announced that its 3rd quarter net income dropped 85 percent. While analysts are blaming soft advertising revenues, I think something more ominous is happening at America’s national, bleeding-heart newspaper. *snip* If the economy is improving- as the publisher would have us believe- the rest of the paper’s operations didn’t get that memo. “[T]he lack of business confidence is growing in many, many segments, financial being one of them,” said the Times’ Chief Advertising Officer Denise Warren , according to Poynter.org. “Entertainment was down due to a lack of major releases in the quarter. Department stores had weak retail sales performance, so that impacted us. And then real estate is down, mostly due to the lack of new development in the New York market.” Retail, Finance and Real Estate are experiencing lack of “business confidence,” as are “many, many segments” say the business folks behind the Times. You wouldn’t know it if you read the pages of the Times, however. On the editorial side- as opposed to the advertising folks who have to pay the salaries for the editorial folks- they think things are improving in our economy. “Rise in Household Debt Might Be Sign of a Strengthening Recovery,” says the Times . “Hard-Hit Cities Show a Housing Rebound”; “The Perils of Feeding a Bloated Industry”- the bloated industry being financial services. “Barack Obama for Re-Election,” say the editors. But besides using the economic disconnect between editorial and ads as a cheap shot at the questionable content of the New York Times, there is a real-life point. Even as economic conditions continue to deteriorate, the Grey Lady refuses to acknowledge the obvious: Obama’s policies are responsible for the worst post-recession performance since the 1930s. “President Obama has shown a firm commitment to using government to help foster growth,” says the Times. “He has formed sensible budget policies that are not dedicated to protecting the powerful, and has worked to save the social safety net to protect the powerless.” I don’t know how they wrote this without laughing or crying. The rest of the editorial reads like a desperate suicide note as well, or least a desperate plea for a death panel to decide the fate of the New York Times. They even go so far as to label Mitt Romney “dangerous.” *snip* Full Commentary