Do you remember the movie “Snakes on a Plane"? It was a movie about, well, snakes on a plane.
But when I say “snakes in the newsroom,” some of you red-meat conservatives might not take me so literally. Perhaps I’m referring to the editors of “The New York Times"? But I’m not. We’re talking real snakes in a real newsroom.
At least that’s the story coming from “The Washington Times,” where the economic pressures have gotten so severe that not only has the staff been slashed dramatically, but maintenance on the building has also slipped. Thus the snake -- though in a spirit of strict factual accuracy it must be noted that the snake was found in a conference room, not the newsroom proper (for whatever difference that makes).
But seriously, folks: times are tough at the “Times." The paper has apparently never turned a profit. It has been subsidized by the Unification Church to the tune of $35-million a year. That subsidy is coming to an end, and that leaves little money for circulation building activities, for maintenance on the physical plant, or even for newsgathering. The newsroom staff at the “Times” has gone from more than 200 in 2002 to about 70 today.
Here’s the complete story, as told by the “Times” cross-town rival “The Washington Post.”
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/30/AR2010043002043.html
