Less Of The News That's Fit To Print

The New York Times is shrinking. Literally:

The New York Times Co. plans to narrow the size of its flagship newspaper and close a printing plant, resulting in the loss of 1,050 jobs, the company said in a story posted on its Web site late on Monday.

The changes, set to take place in April 2008, include the closure of a printing plant in Edison, New Jersey. The company will sublet the plant and consolidate its regional printing facilities at a plant in Queens, resulting in the loss of 800 jobs, the paper said.

The newspaper will be narrower by 1 1/2 inches. The redesign will result in the loss of 250 production jobs, the company said.

The New York Times said it expected the changes to result in savings of $42 million.

The narrower format, offset by some additional pages, will reduce the space the paper has for news by 5 percent, Executive Editor Bill Keller said in the article.

Less of the New York Times is always good news; too bad that it has to come on the backs of the honest working stiffs who merely print the stuff.