NY Times CEO Janet Robinson Paid $4.9 Million in 2009, Amid Elimination of Newsroom Jobs

New York Times CEO Janet Robinson earns $4.9 million in 2009, amid elimination of newsroom and other cost reduction moves.

New York Times Co. CEO Janet Robinson earned roughly $4.9 million in compensation in 2009, according to an analysis by The Associated Press. Even though her salary reportedly fell four percent to $962,500, she still raked in a bonus of about $2.3 million, which is reportedly four times the size of her 2008 bonus. Funny how she could be compensated so handsomely and the newspaper just announced it would eliminate 100 newsroom jobs, or about eight percent of the total, by the end of 2010. The paper said it would accomplish this by offering buyouts to union and non-union employees and would resort to layoffs if it could not get enough people to leave voluntarily.

The program mirrors one carried out in the spring of 2008, when the paper erased 100 positions in its newsroom, though other jobs were created, so the net reduction was smaller. That round of cuts included some layoffs of journalists — about 15 to 20, though The Times would not disclose the actual figure — which was the first time in memory that had happened.

The paper has made much deeper reductions in other, non-newsroom departments, where layoffs have occurred several times. But the advertising drop that has pummeled the industry has forced cuts in the news operation as well. The newsroom already has lowered its budgets for freelancers and trimmed other expenses, and employees took a five percent pay cut for most of this year. Source: NY Times

So, it is a little disingenuous that the Times could pay the CEO such an enormous compensation while they are implementing deep cost reduction in other areas. It's also very hypocritical to ask the employees to take a pay reduction, while her bonus goes through the stratosphere. According to the Associated Press, Robinson also received stock options worth $1.6 million when they were granted.