From the horse’s mouth:

The New York Times Company has threatened to close The Boston Globe unless labor unions agree to concessions like pay cuts and the cessation of pension contributions, according to a person briefed on the talks.

The company is looking for $20 million in savings from The Globe, which has already gone through several rounds of deep cost-cutting and staff reductions. The company does not report figures by newspaper, but executives have acknowledged that the Globe lost tens of millions of dollars last year.

The Christian Science Monitor:

Even if unions and management come to terms on the concessions, as Northeastern University journalism professor Dan Kennedy notes in his Media Nation blog, “The problem is, I don’t think anyone believes this is a one-time deal. What will the next demand be?”

To understand what is at stake, it is worth reading or listening to a thoughtful lecture that Globe editor Marty Baron gave on Thursday at the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication. Baron outlined the severe challenges facing newspapers in a talk titled “The Incredible Shrinking Newsroom: How can fewer reporters meet increasing demands for coverage?”

His is a sober message about the crucial importance of journalism (click here to listen to it), A key quote:

“In many ways, we are headed for a thrilling new world of media. Technology allows journalists today to tell stories in ways that were never possible before, to reach audiences larger than ever, and to build a tight and more intimate bond with the public. For young journalists, there can be remarkable opportunity as old media models crumble and as an entrepreneurial culture takes hold in a field that has long been dominated by overbearing media behemoths. There is a lot to be excited about, and a lot that is healthy.”

He continues:

“There will be many experiments, many new models. Some will be nonprofit. But many will seek to make a profit, a big one. An era of entrepreneurship for journalism has begun. Entrepreneurship comes with greater risks…. There also are risks for the practice of journalism. There are risks that journalism will turn cynically to the quick, the easy, and the cheap — that a story’s greatest accomplishment will be to get a million page views, rather than to correct an injustice, or unearth wrongdoing, or give voice to people who would not otherwise be heard.”

Jeff Jarvis notes the paucity of advertising in the “dead-tree version” of the NYTimes, the one that carried the Globe threat:

And it’s only going to get worse.

This is why I say there is no time to waste to make the transition to the next life for news. Print is simply no longer sustainable.

Romenesko points to Boston.com’s coverage:

Ralph Giallanella, secretary-treasurer of the drivers’ union, says: “We all know the newspaper industry is going through great transition and loss. … Just based on everything that’s going on around the country, they’re serious.” || Alan Mutter: The Globe “vastly overplayed” the story.
> Yemma: “Boston without the Boston Globe is unthinkable”