Sound Familiar? Executive Editor Bill Keller Says No More Newsroom Cuts "Planned Or Foreseen." Just Like He Said Last Year.

No, I do not see another round of newsroom staff reductions on the horizon. In fact, we are entering into the budget discussions for 2009 with a determination — shared by Arthur and Scott — to protect the journalistic team that is the engine of our long-term success....What [the recession] will NOT mean, I most fervently hope, is a surrender to the short-sighted, serial staff cuts that have hollowed out some of the nation's great news organizations.

--Bill Keller, NYT Executive Editor, in remarks to the NYT newsroom staff, October 27, 2008

Of course, we have no guarantees of what the future holds. But, anxiety-fed gossip nothwithstanding, there is no further newsroom staff cut planned or foreseen, no "next round" on the agenda. It is my fervent hope that we will never endure another month like this one. Indeed, while the business climate remains cloudy, there are some hopeful signs — in the heft of the paper, in the display ads on the website — that we are over the worst of the economic upheaval. The company is hard at work on some promising ways to boost revenues and get back on a path to growth. More to come.

--Bill Keller, NYT Executive Editor, email to the NYT newsroom staff, December 18, 2009