Formed in 1967, the New York Times Company is most famous for the internationally renowned
New York Times newspaper. However, since it was floated on the American stock exchange in 1969 (ticker symbol
NYTA), the company has become much more than a newspaper publisher. Although its main revenue still comes from the
NYT, the company has several other interests. I've listed those interests here, both the 'offical' interests (i.e. the companies that the New York Times Company
owns) and the '
unofficial' interests (i.e. the companies that, arguably,
own the New York Times).
Company Products
The New York Times: Their flagship publication. Weekday circulation 1,143,700. The paper has won 88 Pulitzer prizes (more than any other newspaper). They have 27 US news bureaus (16 in New York) and 26 scattered around the world.
New York Times Digital: Produces over 40 websites, the most significant being NYTimes.com and Boston.com.
New England Newspaper Group: Publishes the Boston Globe and the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, which have weekday circulations of 472,500 and 104,600 respectively.
Regional Newspaper Group: Publishes 15 regional US newspapers (figures below are weekly circulation for 2001):
Broadcast Group
Board of Directors
As is usual, the directors of the New York Times Company have many outside interests, often being members of the board for several major corporations. Below are the company boards to which the various New York Times Company directors are directly connected to. As should be clear, there are plenty of potential conflicts of interest. For example, will the LucasArts connection affect NYT Star Wars reviews? Would that same paper publish a no-holds-barred investigation into Chase Manhattan accounting? How about investigating the effects of Pepsi on the health of young children?
John F. Akers, Director
Connected to PepsiCo, Springs Industries, Zurich Insurance, Lehman Brothers, Hallmark Cards and W.R. Grace & Company
Former CEO of IBM
Brenda C. Barnes, Director
Connected to Sears, Roebuck & Company, Avon Products, Starwood Hotels, LucasArts Entertainment and LucasDigital
Former CEO of Pepsi North America
Raul E. Cesan, Director
Former President of Schering-Plough Pharmaceuticals.
Jacqueline H. Dryfoos, Director
Michael Golden, Vice Chairman and Senior Vice President
William E. Kennard, Director
Member of the board at Nextel Communications and Handspring, Inc.
Former chairman of the FCC
Russell T. Lewis, President and CEO
David E. Liddle, Director
Former executive at Xerox and IBM
Ellen R. Marram, Director
Member of the board at Ford
Former CEO of Tropicana (itself a subsidiary of Pepsi).
Former executive at Seagram and the National Biscuit Company
Henry B. Schacht, Director
Member of the board at Aluminum Company of America (Alcoa), Chase Manhattan Bank, Cummins Engine Company, Johnson & Johnson, Knoll and Lucent Technologies.
Donald M. Stewart, Director
Member of the board at Campbell Soup and the Educational Broadcast Corporation (WNET-TV).
Arthur Sulzberger, Jr., Chairman and publisher, New York Times
Cathy Sulzberger, Director
Please note: I'm not making accusations, just providing a little food for thought...
Some sources: http://www.fair.org/media-outlets/nyt.html, http://www.nytco.com