Roy Greensland (The Guardian media blogger) commented on my recent post about Janet Robinson and the lack of leadership in The New York Times Company, and he got this interesting reaction from a former executive:
The Times has been trading on its brand for many years and was making so much money in the eighties and nineties that we employees used to joke that we were literally printing money in the basement on 43rd Street.
At the time, the Times was very paternalistic, employees were nurtured, loyalty was rewarded and hard work often recognized. At one time, the elder Sulzberger surrounded himself with smart, respected minds; John Pomfret, Lance Primis, Walter Mattson and Sydney Gruson. Board members included Lou Gerstner from IBM. We were proud to say we worked the Times.
But, the family’s leadership changed. Punch retired as did his advisors. Arthur Jr. stepped in and he and Lance Primis sparred for years and in a final show down, Lance left the company and the leadership of the business department ultimately fell to the ineffectual, first Janet and then Dan Cohen, 1st cousin of the publisher and a known sufferer of bi-polar disorder, the perfect personality for an ad director!
When it was clear that the inmates had succeeded in running the asylum, I, along with most of my contemporaries jumped ship. It certainly didn’t help business and the ad and marketing staffs have suffered for years from a serious brain drain.
No doubt, the Times is still a great product – however it may exist in the future. It’s always outlived its employees and hopefully, the Sulzbergers now in charge.
Posted by formernewyorker on April 21, 2007 3:31 AM.
Amen.