Scrutiny For The New York Times Company

The newspaper business is in bad shape-- Rupert Murdoch's purchase of Dow Jones notwithstanding. Even the beloved, venerable New York Times should be worried.

Smart folks that care about the Times, like Marc Andreessen, are agitating for change.

And so are hedge fund scumbags. Silicon Alley Insider takes a look at some activist investors and their plan to evolve the Times from being a Newspaper company to being a media brand. They might be on to something, but first they'll have to convince the mediocre Sulzberger leadership that times have changed.

THE GROUP'S RESTRUCTURING PLAN:

• Sell off all non-core assets, including:
  • NYT building (estimated value $1 billion)
  • Stakes in sports teams
  • Regional newspapers
• Consider selling Boston Globe and About.com
• Use the proceeds of these sales to buy new digital assets
• Use the massive traffic to NYT.com and About, etc., to better monetize the newly acquired digital assets.
• Boost the monetization of core NYTimes.com (which lags some competitors)
• Shift the company's mindset to be more of a digital media conglomerate instead of THE NEW YORK TIMES COMPANY (thus eliminating some of the cultural baggage that goes with that).