This Web site contains forward-looking statements that relate to future events or our future financial performance. We may also make written and oral forward-looking statements in our Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") filings and otherwise. We have tried, where possible, to identify such statements by using words such as "believe," "expect," "intend," "estimate," "anticipate," "will," "project," "plan" and similar expressions in connection with any discussion of future operating or financial performance. Any forward-looking statements are and will be based upon our then-current expectations, estimates and assumptions regarding future events and are applicable only as of the dates of such statements. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

By their nature, forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in any such statements. You should bear this in mind as you consider forward-looking statements. Factors that we think could, individually or in the aggregate, cause our actual results to differ materially from expected and historical results include those described below as well as other risks and factors identified from time to time in our SEC filings.

Risk Factors

Our business, financial condition or results of operations could be materially adversely affected by any or all of these risks, or by other risks or uncertainties not presently known or currently deemed immaterial, that may adversely affect us in the future.

Economic weakness and uncertainty in the United States, in the regions in which we operate and in key advertising categories has adversely affected and may continue to adversely affect our advertising revenues.

Advertising spending, which drives a significant portion of our revenues, is sensitive to economic conditions. National and local economic conditions, particularly in the New York City and Boston metropolitan regions, as well as in Florida, affect the levels of our national, retail and classified advertising revenue. Economic factors that have adversely affected advertising revenue include lower consumer and business spending, high unemployment, depressed home sales and other challenges affecting the economy. Our advertising revenues are particularly adversely affected if advertisers respond to weak economic conditions by reducing their budgets or shifting spending patterns or priorities, or if they are forced to consolidate or cease operations. Continuing weak economic conditions and outlook would adversely affect our level of advertising revenues and our business, financial condition and results of operations.

All of our businesses face substantial competition for advertisers.

We face substantial competition for advertising revenue in our various markets from free and paid newspapers, magazines, Web sites, digital platforms and applications, television, radio, other forms of media, direct marketing and online advertising networks and exchanges. Competition for advertising is generally based on audience levels and demographics, price, service and advertising results. It has intensified both as a result of the continued development and fragmentation of digital media and adverse economic conditions. Competition from all of these media and services affects our ability to attract and retain advertisers and consumers and to maintain or increase our advertising rates.

The increasing popularity of digital media and the shift in consumer habits and advertising expenditures from traditional to digital media has adversely affected and may continue to adversely affect our revenues.

Web sites, applications for mobile devices, social networking tools and other digital platforms distributing news and other content continue to gain popularity. This migration to digital technologies among both providers and consumers of content may accelerate due to economic conditions with companies seeking greater efficiencies and consumers seeking more value and lower-cost alternatives. As a result, print subscriptions may decline and advertising spending may continue to shift from traditional media forms to digital media. We expect that advertisers will continue to allocate increasing portions of their budgets to digital media, which through pay-for-performance and keyword-targeted advertising can offer more measurable returns than traditional print media. This secular shift has intensified competition for advertising in traditional media and has contributed to and may continue to contribute to a decline in print advertising revenue.

We may not achieve sufficient subscribers or audience levels to make a digital pay model financially attractive.

In early 2011, we plan to launch a pay model on NYTimes.com and across digital platforms with the intention of developing a second digital revenue stream, while preserving our digital advertising business. The Times will implement a metered model, whereby users will be asked to pay after accessing for free a set number of articles per month. Our ability to build a subscriber base on our digital platforms depends on market acceptance, consumer habits, the timely development of an adequate online infrastructure, practices of delivery platforms and other factors. Traffic levels may stagnate or decline as a result of the implementation of a pay model, which may adversely affect our advertiser base and advertising rates and result in a decline in digital revenues. If we are unable to convert a sufficient number of users to a paid status or maintain our digital audience for advertising sales, our business, financial condition and prospects may be adversely affected.

If we are unable to retain and grow our digital audience, our digital businesses will be adversely affected.

The increasing number of digital media options available on the Internet, through social networking tools and through mobile and other devices distributing news and other content is expanding consumer choice significantly. Faced with a multitude of media choices and a dramatic increase in accessible information, consumers may place greater value on when, where and how and at what price they consume digital content than they do on the source or reliability of such content. The increasing popularity of news aggregation Web sites and customized news feeds (often free to users) may reduce our traffic levels by creating a disincentive for the audience to visit our Web sites or use our digital applications. In addition, the undifferentiated presentation of some of our content in aggregation with other content may lead audiences to fail to distinguish our content from the content of other providers. Our reputations for quality journalism and content are important in competing for revenues in this environment and are based on consumer and advertiser perceptions. If consumers fail to differentiate our content from other content providers in digital media, or if the quality of our journalism or content is perceived as less reliable, we may not be able to increase our online traffic sufficiently or retain a base of frequent visitors to our digital platforms.

Online traffic is also driven by Internet search results, including search results provided by Google, the primary search engine directing traffic to the Web sites of the About Group and many of our other sites. Search engines frequently update and change the methods for directing search queries to Web pages or change methodologies or metrics for valuing the quality and performance of Internet traffic on delivering cost-per-click advertisements. Any such changes could decrease the amount of revenue that we generate from online advertisements. The failure to successfully manage search engine optimization efforts across our businesses could result in a significant decrease in traffic to our various Web sites, which could result in substantial decreases in conversion rates and repeat business, as well as increased costs if we were to replace free traffic with paid traffic, any or all of which would adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

If traffic levels stagnate or decline, we may not be able to create sufficient advertiser interest in our digital businesses or to maintain or increase the advertising rates of the inventory on our digital platforms. Even if we maintain traffic levels, the market position of our brands may not be enough to counteract a significant downward pressure on advertising rates as a result of a significant increase in inventory.

The About Group depends upon arrangements with Google, and any changes in this relationship could adversely affect its business, financial condition and results of operations.

Cost-per-click revenue of the About Group is principally derived from an arrangement with Google. If the About Group is unable to renew the existing agreement with Google, the About Group's business, financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected. In addition, the amount of revenue we receive from Google depends upon a number of factors outside of our control, including the efficiency of Google's system in attracting advertisers and serving up paid listings on our content pages and judgments made by Google about the relative attractiveness (to the advertiser) of clicks on paid listings on our Web pages. Changes to Google's paid listings network efficiency or its judgment about the relative attractiveness of clicks on paid listings on our Web pages has had and may continue to have an adverse effect on the About Group's business, financial condition and results of operations.

To remain competitive, we must be able to respond to and capitalize on changes in technology, services and standards and changes in consumer behavior.

Technological developments in the media industry continue to evolve rapidly. Advances in that technology have led to an increasing number of alternative methods for the delivery of news and other content and have driven consumer demand and expectations in unanticipated directions. If we are unable to exploit new and existing technologies to distinguish our products and services from those of our competitors or adapt to new distribution methods that provide optimal user experiences, our business, financial condition and prospects may be adversely affected.

Technological developments also pose other challenges that could adversely affect our revenues and competitive position. New delivery platforms may lead to pricing restrictions, the loss of distribution control and the loss of a direct relationship with consumers. We may also be adversely affected if the use of technology developed to block the display of advertising on Web sites proliferates.

Technological developments and any changes we make to our business model may require significant capital investments. We may be limited in our ability to invest funds and resources in digital products, services or opportunities and we may incur costs of research and development in building and maintaining the necessary and continually evolving technology infrastructure. It may also be difficult to attract and retain talent for critical positions. Some of our existing competitors and possible additional entrants may have greater operational, financial and other resources or may otherwise be better positioned to compete for opportunities and as a result, our digital businesses may be less successful.

Decreases in circulation volume adversely affect our circulation and advertising revenues.

Advertising and circulation revenues are affected by circulation and readership levels of our newspaper properties. Competition for circulation and readership is generally based upon format, content, quality, service, timeliness and price. In recent years, our newspaper properties, and the newspaper industry as a whole, have experienced declining print circulation volume. This is due to, among other factors, increased competition from new digital media formats and sources other than traditional newspapers (often free to users), declining discretionary spending by consumers affected by weak economic conditions, high subscription and newsstand rates, and a growing preference among some consumers to receive all or a portion of their news other than from a newspaper. We have also experienced volume declines as a result of our strategy to implement circulation price increases at many of our newspaper properties and to focus on individually paid circulation that is preferred by advertisers. If these or other factors result in a prolonged decline in circulation volume, the rate and volume of advertising revenues may be adversely affected (as rates reflect circulation and readership, among other factors). These factors could also affect our ability to institute circulation price increases for our print products at a rate sufficient to offset circulation volume declines.

If we are unable to execute cost-control measures successfully, our total operating costs may be greater than expected, which may adversely affect our profitability.

We have significantly reduced operating costs by reducing staff and employee benefits and implementing general cost-control measures across the Company, and expect to continue these cost-control efforts. If we do not achieve expected savings or our operating costs increase as a result of our strategic initiatives, our total operating costs may be greater than anticipated. In addition, if our cost-reduction strategy is not managed properly, such efforts may affect the quality of our products and our ability to generate future revenue. Reductions in staff and employee compensation and benefits could also adversely affect our ability to attract and retain key employees.

Significant portions of our expenses are fixed costs that neither increase nor decrease proportionately with revenues. If we are not able to implement further cost control efforts or reduce our fixed costs sufficiently in response to a decline in our revenues, we may experience a higher percentage decline in our income from continuing operations.

A significant increase in the price of newsprint, or limited availability of newsprint supply, would have an adverse effect on our operating results.

The cost of raw materials, of which newsprint is the major component, represented approximately 8% of our total operating costs in 2010. The price of newsprint has historically been volatile and may increase as a result of various factors, including:

• a reduction in the number of suppliers as a result of restructurings and consolidations in the North American newsprint industry;
• declining newsprint supply as a result of paper mill closures and conversions to other grades of paper; and
• other factors that adversely impact supplier profitability, including increases in operating expenses caused by raw material and energy costs, and a rise in the value of the Canadian dollar, which adversely affects Canadian suppliers whose costs are incurred in Canadian dollars but whose newsprint sales are priced in U.S. dollars.

In addition, we rely on our suppliers for deliveries of newsprint. The availability of our newsprint supply may be affected by various factors, including strikes and other disruptions that may affect deliveries of newsprint.

If newsprint prices increase significantly or we experience significant disruptions in the availability of our newsprint supply in the future, our operating results will be adversely affected.

Sustained increases in costs of providing pension and employee health and welfare benefits and the underfunded status of our pension plans may adversely affect our operations, financial condition and liquidity.

Employee benefits, including pension expense, accounted for approximately 9% of our total operating costs in 2010. Our profitability is significantly impacted by increases in these costs that may be due to factors beyond our control, including interest rates and returns on plan assets, which affect our pension expense and may increase our funding obligations. Our qualified pension plans were underfunded as of the January 1, 2011, valuation date and we expect to make substantial contributions in the future to fund this deficiency. If interest rates decrease or investment returns are below expectations, those contributions may be higher than currently anticipated. As a result, we may have less cash available for working capital and other corporate uses, which may have an adverse impact on our operations, financial condition and liquidity.

A significant number of our employees are unionized, and our business and results of operations could be adversely affected if labor negotiations or contracts were to further restrict our ability to maximize the efficiency of our operations.

Approximately 40% of our full-time equivalent work force are unionized. As a result, we are required to negotiate the wages, salaries, benefits, staffing levels and other terms with many of our employees collectively. Our results could be adversely affected if future labor negotiations or contracts were to further restrict our ability to maximize the efficiency of our operations. If we were to experience labor unrest, strikes or other business interruptions in connection with labor negotiations or otherwise, or if we are unable to negotiate labor contracts on reasonable terms, our ability to produce and deliver our most significant products could be impaired. In addition, our ability to make short-term adjustments to control compensation and benefits costs, rebalance our portfolio of businesses or otherwise adapt to changing business needs may be limited by the terms of our collective bargaining agreements.

Due to our participation in multiemployer pension plans, we have exposures under those plans that may extend beyond what our obligations would be with respect to our employees.

We participate in, and make periodic contributions to, various multiemployer pension plans that cover many of our union employees. Our required contributions to these funds could increase because of a shrinking contribution base as a result of the insolvency or withdrawal of other companies that currently contribute to these funds, inability or failure of withdrawing companies to pay their withdrawal liability, low interest rates, lower than expected returns on pension fund assets or other funding deficiencies.

We incurred significant pension withdrawal liabilities in 2009 in connection with amendments to various collective bargaining agreements affecting certain multiemployer pension plans, primarily at the Globe, and the closure of City & Suburban Delivery Systems, Inc. ("City & Suburban"), our retail and newsstand distribution subsidiary, which resulted in the partial or complete cessation of contributions to certain multiemployer plans. We may be required to make additional contributions under applicable law with respect to those plans or other multiemployer pension plans from which we may withdraw or partially withdraw. Our withdrawal liability for any multiemployer pension plan will depend on the extent of that plan's funding of vested benefits. If a multiemployer pension plan in which we participate has significant underfunded liabilities, such underfunding will increase the size of our potential withdrawal liability.

We may buy or sell different properties as a result of our evaluation of our portfolio of businesses. Such acquisitions or divestitures would affect our costs, revenues, profitability and financial position.

From time to time, we evaluate the various components of our portfolio of businesses and may, as a result, buy or sell different properties. These acquisitions or divestitures affect our costs, revenues, profitability and financial position. We may also consider the acquisition of specific properties or businesses that fall outside our traditional lines of business if we deem such properties sufficiently attractive.

Divestitures have inherent risks, including possible delays in closing transactions (including potential difficulties in obtaining regulatory approvals), the risk of lower-than-expected sales proceeds for the divested businesses, unexpected costs associated with the separation of the business to be sold from our integrated information technology systems and other operating systems, and potential post-closing claims for indemnification. In addition, adverse economic or market conditions may result in fewer potential bidders and unsuccessful sales efforts. Expected cost savings, which are offset by revenue losses from divested businesses, may also be difficult to achieve or maximize due to our fixed cost structure.

Acquisitions also involve risks, including difficulties in integrating acquired operations, diversions of management resources, debt incurred in financing these acquisitions (including the related possible reduction in our credit ratings and increase in our cost of borrowing), differing levels of management and internal control effectiveness at the acquired entities and other unanticipated problems and liabilities. Competition for certain types of acquisitions, particularly digital properties, is significant. Even if successfully negotiated, closed and integrated, certain acquisitions or investments may prove not to advance our business strategy and may fall short of expected return on investment targets.

From time to time, we make noncontrolling minority investments in private entities and these investments may be subject to capital calls. We may have limited voting rights or an inability to influence the direction of such entities, although income from such investments may represent a significant portion of our income. Therefore, the success of these ventures may be dependent upon the efforts of our partners, fellow investors and licensees. These investments are generally illiquid, and the absence of a market inhibits our ability to dispose of them. This inhibition as well as an inability to control the timing or process relating to a disposition could adversely affect our liquidity and the value we may ultimately attain on a disposition. If the value of the companies in which we invest declines, we may be required to record a charge to earnings.

Our debt agreements contain restrictions that limit our flexibility in operating our business.

Our debt agreements contain various covenants that limit our ability to engage in specified types of transactions. For example, these covenants, among other things, restrict, subject to certain exceptions, our ability and the ability of our subsidiaries to:

• incur or guarantee additional debt or issue certain preferred equity;
• pay dividends on or make distributions to holders of our common stock or make other restricted payments
• sell certain assets;
• create or incur liens on certain assets to secure debt;
• make certain investments;
• consolidate, merge, sell or otherwise dispose of all or substantially all of our assets; or
• enter into certain transactions with affiliates.

These restrictions limit our flexibility in operating our business and responding to opportunities.

Changes in our credit ratings or macroeconomic conditions may affect our liquidity, increasing borrowing costs and limiting our financing options.

Our long-term debt is currently rated below investment grade by Standard & Poor's and Moody's Investors Service. If our credit ratings remain below investment grade or are lowered further, borrowing costs for future long-term debt or short-term borrowing facilities may increase and our financing options, including our access to the unsecured borrowing market, would be more limited. We may also be subject to additional restrictive covenants that would reduce our flexibility. In addition, macroeconomic conditions, such as continued or increased volatility or disruption in the credit markets, would adversely affect our ability to refinance existing debt or obtain additional financing to support operations or to fund new acquisitions or capital-intensive internal initiatives.

We may be required to record non-cash impairment charges with respect to certain of our assets.

Each year, we evaluate the various components of our portfolio in connection with annual impairment testing. We also continually evaluate whether current factors or indicators require the performance of an interim impairment assessment of those assets, as well as other investments and other long-lived assets. We may be required to record a non-cash charge if the financial statement carrying value of an asset is in excess of its estimated fair value. Fair value could be adversely affected by weak economic or market conditions within our industry that may have an adverse impact on our cash flows or our stock price. An impairment charge would adversely affect our reported earnings.

We may not be able to protect intellectual property rights upon which our business relies, and if we lose intellectual property protection, our assets may lose value.

Our business depends on our intellectual property, including our valuable brands, content, services and internally developed technology. We believe our proprietary trademarks and other intellectual property rights are important to our continued success and our competitive position.

Unauthorized parties may attempt to copy or otherwise obtain and use our content, services, technology and other intellectual property, and we cannot be certain that the steps we have taken to protect our proprietary rights will prevent any misappropriation or confusion among consumers and merchants, or unauthorized use of these rights.

Advancements in technology have exacerbated the risk by making it easier to duplicate and disseminate content. In addition, as our business and the risk of misappropriation of our intellectual property rights have become more global in scope, we may not be able to protect our proprietary rights in a cost effective manner in a multitude of jurisdictions with varying laws.

If we are unable to procure, protect and enforce our intellectual property rights, we may not realize the full value of these assets, and our business may suffer. If we must litigate in the United States or elsewhere to enforce our intellectual property rights or determine the validity and scope of the proprietary rights of others, such litigation may be costly and divert the attention of our management.

Our Class B Common Stock is principally held by descendants of Adolph S. Ochs, through a family trust, and this control could create conflicts of interest or inhibit potential changes of control.

We have two classes of stock: Class A Common Stock and Class B Common Stock. Holders of Class A Common Stock are entitled to elect 30% of the Board of Directors and to vote, with holders of Class B Common Stock, on the reservation of shares for equity grants, certain material acquisitions and the ratification of the selection of our auditors. Holders of Class B Common Stock are entitled to elect the remainder of the Board and to vote on all other matters. Our Class B Common Stock is principally held by descendants of Adolph S. Ochs, who purchased The Times in 1896. A family trust holds approximately 90% of the Class B Common Stock. As a result, the trust has the ability to elect 70% of the Board of Directors and to direct the outcome of any matter that does not require a vote of the Class A Common Stock. Under the terms of the trust agreement, the trustees are directed to retain the Class B Common Stock held in trust and to vote such stock against any merger, sale of assets or other transaction pursuant to which control of The Times passes from the trustees, unless they determine that the primary objective of the trust can be achieved better by the implementation of such transaction. Because this concentrated control could discourage others from initiating any potential merger, takeover or other change of control transaction that may otherwise be beneficial to our businesses, the market price of our Class A Common Stock could be adversely affected.

Legislative and regulatory developments may result in increased costs and lower advertising revenue from our digital businesses.

All of our operations are subject to government regulation in the jurisdictions in which they operate. Due to the wide geographic scope of its operations, the IHT is subject to regulation by political entities throughout the world. In addition, our Web sites are available worldwide and are subject to laws regulating the Internet both within and outside the United States. We may incur increased costs necessary to comply with existing and newly adopted laws and regulations or penalties for any failure to comply. Advertising revenue from our digital businesses could be adversely affected, directly or indirectly, by existing or future laws and regulations relating to the use of consumer data in digital media.