Accountablity ... ???

All of this despite the fact that I read it every day (or as much as possible) and even popped for "Times Select" ... which makes it easier to dig through the archives.

The "Grey Lady" gets paler

28% of Votes Are Withheld at Times Company Meeting - New York Times:

"Investors holding more than a quarter of the shares of The New York Times Company withheld their votes for directors at the annual meeting yesterday, registering their dissatisfaction with how the company is performing."

"Mr. Elmasry of Morgan Stanley said the two classes of ownership fostered "a lack of accountability to all of the company's shareholders," and he questioned the salaries of top management when the stock was performing poorly.

"Despite significant underperformance, management's total compensation is substantial and has increased considerably over this period," he said.

While the newspaper industry as a whole has been buffeted by stagnant advertising, flagging circulation and competition from the Internet, the Times Company's stock has fared worse than the industry's average in the last two years.

Since January 2004, the company shares have fallen 47 percent; an index of industry stocks has fallen 35.8 percent. In the same period, stocks in the Standard & Poor's 500 index have climbed more than 17 percent."