In the Weeks Ahead, There Will Be Plenty of Time to Pay Tribute

In the weeks ahead, there will be plenty of time to pay tribute to my father and his remarkable tenure leading The Times through one of the most difficult and consequential periods in our history. Today, I want to step back for just a minute and reflect on how far we’ve come. Arthur took over a tradition-bound metro newspaper — with the telling nickname “The Old Grey Lady” — and transformed it into a global leader in digital journalism…3.5 million subscriptions, spanning nearly every country on earth. Our digital report is better, our digital readership is higher, and our digital business is stronger than anyone else’s. This success is due in no small part to Arthur’s vision and leadership. He is the only publisher of his generation who took over a great news organization and handed it off even better than he found it. I feel lucky that he will continue to guide us as Chairman. I want to acknowledge one other person: my great-aunt Marian Heiskell, who spent 34 years on the Board of Directors and who next week celebrates her 99th birthday. She has known and counseled five generations of The New York Times publishers, starting with Adolph Ochs. And here’s just one sign of her unwavering devotion to this place—she’s still a regular in the lunch line on 14. Today is one of those days when we’re reminded that this is a family-controlled company. And I’m keenly aware that can seem old-fashioned. But it’s actually more important than ever. We are living through a time when independent, honest journalism is under relentless assault. When business pressures have cut the number of working journalists in this country by half, in less than two decades. When polarization is cleaving society, fueled by technology platforms that elevate clickbait and fake news over original reporting. When political attacks, from presidential tweets to leak investigations are inflaming suspicion of the press and eroding First Amendment freedoms. At times like this, we’re able to maintain our independence from political and market pressures precisely because a unified family stands behind this company. Over the last century, five publishers have steered The Times through wars, economic crisis, technological upheaval and profound societal change. They have occasionally been called on to to stand up to presidents; to battle for the rights of a free press in court; to override our business interests in favor of our journalistic principles. Through it all, our highest commitment has been to our readers, not to our bottom line, or to our traffic numbers, or to any ideological agenda. That commitment has proven to be good for our journalism and it’s proven to be good for our business. Which brings me to some news. This has been as intense a year in the newsroom as any of us can remember. Huge, important, sometimes jaw-dropping stories has kept us racing nonstop. But, as Dean showed, we haven’t just been reacting to events. We’ve been out in the world, searching for stories — stories no one else was telling. Stories that exposed wrongdoing and changed lives for the better. And, in the case of our groundbreaking investigations into sexual harassment and abuse, stories that literally triggered a global reckoning that is actively reshaping society. It’s been a historic year. For that reason — and many more — the company leadership has committed to Dean and Joe that we will do everything in our power to maintain a stable newsroom budget over the next two years. Barring a major economic or business downturn, this means we expect our staff size to remain stable. Of course, we’ll still need to make changes to keep pace with an evolving world—we’ll need to invest in some areas and scale back others. But we won’t make these decisions just to meet a financial target. The fact that we can make this commitment in a climate of profound uncertainty in our industry is a powerful validation of our work the last few years. But we can’t be complacent. The day we stop adapting and improving is the day the world leaves us behind. We’ll never abandon our journalistic values, but we have to challenge conventional thinking and outdated habits at every turn, in the search for better ways to serve our readers and grow our business. And with that, I want to share some of my early thinking about where we are and where we’re going. The New York Times has long been the world’s most important newspaper. That certainly remains true today. But we are so much more. We’re a global media company that helps people understand the world, in countless ways, in countless places. We’re still masters of the written word — that’s not going to change. But we’ve also established ourselves as clear leaders in photography, graphics, multimedia storytelling. Our video team received eight Emmy nominations for the third year in a row, and we just learned that our Op-Docs team has three Oscar contenders! Cooking and Wirecutter have revolutionized audience-centered service journalism. “The Daily” was the most-downloaded new podcast of the year. And two of our journalists were named to People Magazine’s list of Sexiest Men Alive. Our audience and business ambitions have expanded along with our journalism. In the years since we released The Innovation Report, our digital readership, subscriber base, and revenues have all more than doubled. But we need to keep pushing. There are four things that I believe we need to do to ensure our long-term success: As always, it starts with great journalism. The bedrock of our business is making journalism so good that it’s worth paying for, despite free and cheaper alternatives. That means maintaining our overwhelming advantage in original, expert, on-the-ground reporting and bringing stories to life in the most engaging, compelling ways. But it’s not enough to be better than the competition. We need people to know we’re better. Our subscribers know this. But millions more don’t — or they’ve decided we’re not for them. The New York Times should aspire to be the destination of choice for every curious person seeking to understand this fast-changing world. That’s a challenge for our whole company: not just for our journalists or marketers, but also for our designers, our product managers, our engineers. We want a generation of readers who can’t imagine a single day without The New York Times. Next, we need to rapidly grow our digital revenue streams. Our advertising and marketing departments have transformed themselves in the last few years and, like our newsroom, are leading the way for the industry. But our ambitions are big and great journalism is expensive, so we need to keep growing. We will need to continue to get better at the little things that lead to great execution, while still searching for the big ideas that transform the company. Finally, this needs to be a great place to work. Our mission is why we’re able to attract such talented and passionate people. We owe you a workplace that brings out the very best in everyone. There are many exceptional things about our culture: the focus on public service, the intelligence and creativity, the unwavering pursuit of excellence, the extraordinary lengths we go to rally around our colleagues in the toughest moments. But we have progress to make in important areas like diversity, communication, and helping people develop their careers. Fewer meetings wouldn’t hurt either. As many of you know, I’ve spent the last year visiting with every department around the building, and the experience confirmed something an editor once told me. He said The New York Times succeeds not just because we have the best reporters, but because we empower them with the best support system for journalism. Everyone in this room is part of that support system — whether you spend your days creating reader experiences… building our revenue streams… defending us from libel lawsuits… managing our pension commitments… answering phone calls from angry subscribers… or participating in the awe-inspiring ballet of printing and delivering our newspaper to a million doorsteps every morning. Together, we form the most powerful engine for excellent journalism anywhere on earth. And the more we work together as a single team, the more we’ll achieve. Silos cost money and they waste time. We are one company, with a shared mission and a shared strategy. One company where everyone knows that the independence and integrity of our journalism comes first. There are truly heartening signs of progress and increased collaboration all around us. We still have more to do. Improving our journalism and products; expanding our audience; growing our business; investing in our culture. We should be clear-eyed that none of this will be easy. The pages of the Harvard Business Review are littered with stories of legacy companies trying—and failing—to reinvent themselves for a new era. But we’re actually pulling it off. This evolution is something we should all take deep pride in. Seeing it through will be an absolute triumph. The Atlantic recently summed up this difficult moment for journalism with the headline “The Media Apocalypse.” But The Times stands out as a powerful exception. Our push to build a sustainable business model for great journalism is viewed as the best hope for our profession. I’ve heard that message from journalists, media executives, and devoted readers around the world: they’re counting on us.

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