4 ms·

2% seems to me laughably low. I would think it is something like 50%. It might take up 2% of the space of a paper, but the reasons we will miss it is because

2% seems to me laughably low. I would think it is something like 50%. It might take up 2% of the space of a paper, but the reasons we will miss it is because no one else appears ready to do it. Why not? Expense.

Alex3917 18y ago
How many investigative journalists do you think the NY Times employs? IIRC they have about 800 employees, so maybe 100 tops. Let's say the cost of employing them is 20M per year. Last year the NYT made 6 million on revenue of 748 million, which means their costs must be 742 million. This makes Seth's numbers roughly correct.
- lliiffee 18y ago
  You seriously believe that 98% of the NYT expenses are consumed by movie reviews, the crossword guy, and David Brooks? Anyway, the fact is, Seth pulled that number out of his ass, and that is irresponsibly sloppy at best. (And, ironically, an excellent example of the kind of thing editors and fact-checkers are for...)
  - anamax 18y ago
    > You seriously believe that 98% of the NYT expenses are consumed by movie reviews, the crossword guy, and David Brooks? You're forgetting the actual paper and the cost of distributing it. We know the revenues (roughly) and that the expenses are about the same. How many actual investigative reporters do you think that the NYT has? Multiply that number by your guess of their average burdended cost and compare that to the total expenses. My guess is that the NYT has at most 30 investigative reporters and they cost, on average, $200k/year. That's $6M. If there are actually 100, that's $20M.
    - lliiffee 18y ago
      Frankly, you are also forgetting about the actual paper and cost of distributing it! I can believe your kind of calculations only in the context of a plausible accounting for all NYT expenses. With out factoring management, lawyers, plane tickets, real estate, etc., you will be way off. BTW 30 is absurdly low. The NYT has more than 30 offices! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_The_New_York_Times_employees http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_The_New_York_Times_empl...
      - Alex3917 18y ago
        According to Wikipedia the Times only has 350 writers total. It's clear that the majority of these are not doing investigative journalism, they are following the candidates around and rewriting press releases and such. I don't see how the number of actual investigative journalists could possibly be more than 100.
        mynameishere 18y ago
        http://finance.yahoo.com/q/pr?s=NYT http://finance.yahoo.com/q/pr?s=NYT Full Time Employees: 10,231 The question isn't "writers" but all of the employees involved in actual news creation. I have no idea what it might actually be, but a 1:10 ratio between "operatives" and "support staff" is my guess.

Alex3917 18y ago

How many investigative journalists do you think the NY Times employs? IIRC they have about 800 employees, so maybe 100 tops. Let's say the cost of employing them is 20M per year. Last year the NYT made 6 million on revenue of 748 million, which means their costs must be 742 million. This makes Seth's numbers roughly correct.

lliiffee 18y ago
You seriously believe that 98% of the NYT expenses are consumed by movie reviews, the crossword guy, and David Brooks? Anyway, the fact is, Seth pulled that number out of his ass, and that is irresponsibly sloppy at best. (And, ironically, an excellent example of the kind of thing editors and fact-checkers are for...)
- anamax 18y ago
  > You seriously believe that 98% of the NYT expenses are consumed by movie reviews, the crossword guy, and David Brooks? You're forgetting the actual paper and the cost of distributing it. We know the revenues (roughly) and that the expenses are about the same. How many actual investigative reporters do you think that the NYT has? Multiply that number by your guess of their average burdended cost and compare that to the total expenses. My guess is that the NYT has at most 30 investigative reporters and they cost, on average, $200k/year. That's $6M. If there are actually 100, that's $20M.
  - lliiffee 18y ago
    Frankly, you are also forgetting about the actual paper and cost of distributing it! I can believe your kind of calculations only in the context of a plausible accounting for all NYT expenses. With out factoring management, lawyers, plane tickets, real estate, etc., you will be way off. BTW 30 is absurdly low. The NYT has more than 30 offices! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_The_New_York_Times_employees http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_The_New_York_Times_empl...
    - Alex3917 18y ago
      According to Wikipedia the Times only has 350 writers total. It's clear that the majority of these are not doing investigative journalism, they are following the candidates around and rewriting press releases and such. I don't see how the number of actual investigative journalists could possibly be more than 100.
      - mynameishere 18y ago
        http://finance.yahoo.com/q/pr?s=NYT http://finance.yahoo.com/q/pr?s=NYT Full Time Employees: 10,231 The question isn't "writers" but all of the employees involved in actual news creation. I have no idea what it might actually be, but a 1:10 ratio between "operatives" and "support staff" is my guess.