Rich Hanley

The New York Times recently announced its plan to cut 100 newsroom jobs through attrition, buyouts and possibly layoffs. The move comes amidst financial strain in the newspaper industry. Rich Hanley, assistant professor of journalism and graduate program director for the School of Communications, believes that newspaper owners and management are ill-prepared for the transition to the digital platform, despite readers and advertisers moving online in increasing numbers.

Hanley says, "The Times is simply owning up to the reality of the moment for traditional newspapers. Advertisers are following readers online, forcing management to calibrate the workforce on the same downward slope of revenue. For newspapers long accustomed to monopoly profits and ever-increasing advertising rates, this is the day of reckoning. Since the Internet emerged as a vastly superior and dynamic delivery mechanism to newsprint, the question has never been a matter of whether readers would retrieve news online but when. That question has been answered, and newspaper owners and management are ill-prepared to respond with the finesse required of this period of transition. They remain analog thinkers as the world shifted to digital."

To reach Hanley, call him at 203-582-8439 or send him an e-mail at richard.hanley@quinnipiac.edu.