The brilliant leadership of the New York Times

 
Gateway Pundit points us to some fascinating statistics related to the pathetic stewardship of the New York Times. Ad revenue declined 3.2% in the month of August alone. So what does management do?

They offer MorOn.org a discount on their treasonous anti-Petraeus ad. They then argue that this is the standard fare although their rate card says otherwise and many advertisers were reportedly not offered the discount.

Then, GOP candidate Rudy Giuliani demands the same price for his ad. The Times throws up their hands and -- with steam issuing from Pinch Sulzberger's ears -- give him the discounted rate, too.

Is this sort of thing the best financial strategy for a company whose stock just hit a 52-week low?

Even worse for the Times? Their online readership numbers are dropping faster than Michael Moore's mattress. The accompanying chart illustrates the traffic rankings of the Times (in blue) versus Internet startup Digg.com, founded in mid-2004 (dark red). Digg is eating the Times' lunch.

Good thing the Internet isn't a strategic channel for the Times.

Update: Don Surber observes "The quoted (or list) price of a full-page B&W ad for NYT just fell from $181,000 to $64,375 because you cannot discount political ads (FEC) [Federal Election Commission]. Look for ad revenues to rise -- Laffer curve and all that..."

Update II: Gaius at Blue Crab Boulevard: "Will the last investor leaving the Times please remember to flush?"

Credits: Stock chart courtesy of Yahoo Finance. Traffic rank graph courtesy of Alexa