The New York Times is Here to Stay

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The New York Times will not be going away any time soon, according to Jill Abramson, managing editor at the New York Times.

Adam Playford, Gallatin senior and former Washington Square News editor – in – chief, introduced Abramson at the Albert Gallatin Lecture Series,sponsored by New York University, with a quip about his journalism future. “2009 isn’t a good time to be a graduating senior. The only thing worse is to be a graduating senior going into journalism,” Playford joked. “What we need now is hope.”

The past few years have not looked promising for the life of newspapers. According to the American Journalism Review, over 15,000 journalist positions were cut in 2008, with many more coming in 2009 as a result of the digital age.

“The New York Times is highly profitable,” Abramson commented, “With 830,000 people still paying for print, we are going to be around for a long time.”

She brushed aside any thought of the Times existing solely online, saying that the Times isn’t rooted in any platform, whether it be print or digital and because of the Times global readership, the paper was “much better equipped to whether the storm.”

Abramson’s words seemed to reassure students and professionals in attendance about the need for newspapers. “Americans have a genetic need for news,” Abramson stated.

Much like everyone else, Abramson is looking to the future. She mentioned that the future is sure to hold yet another revolutionary “gadget” within the development of news.But regardless of any technological developments in the future, Abramson made note that the Times would stick to what it knows how to do best: quality reporting. “We know our readers,” Abramson said, “Our strategy is journalism."