The New York Times sports section will officially close on Monday as the Times shifts its complete focus on The Athletic to provide sports coverage both in print and online.
This news has not sat well with the NewsGuild.
An excerpt from an announcement reads:
“The guild filed a grievance with the newspaper accusing management of replacing union work with nonunion work.
“The Athletic’s newsroom of around 400 reporters and editors is not unionized. The Times has said it is contracting with the Athletic, which the company says is not part of the Times newsroom, the same way it does with a wire service like the Associated Press.
“In continued protest of management’s decision, Times sports staffers are planning a march through the office and a rally outside the Times headquarters Monday afternoon, with speeches and a brass band.
“Despite the dissolution of the sports desk, the Times company will continue to cover sports. The Times paid $550 million for the Athletic last year and acquired the site’s approximately 1 million subscribers.”
Read more here.
