• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, March 12, 2008

Under pressure from militant investors, The New York Times Company CEO Janet Robinson promised Tuesday that the company will redouble its efforts to expand its online businesses over the next year. Speaking at the Bear Stearns conference in New York, Robinson conceded that "in this era, no media company can afford to be an island," implying that many future initiatives will be partnerships with other online players.

Robinson and her bosses, the Ochs-Suzlberger family which owns NYTCO, are under fire from shareholders who say they're not moving fast enough to implement digital initiatives--generally agreed to be critical sources of future revenue growth for newspapers.

Robinson fended off these criticisms, touting new blogs on the Web site of The New York Times flagship and other properties, such as The Boston Globe, as well as partnerships with online classifieds powerhouses like Monster.com.

Despite these efforts, NYTCO still faces protracted opposition from its own shareholders, who have criticized not only the direction of the company, but its management structure as well.

Under NYTCO's dual-class share system, the Ochs-Sulzberger family owns special "Class B" shares with more voting power than the regular "Class A" shares owned by institutional and individual shareholders. These Class B shares allow the family to elect 9 out of 13 board members, effectively retaining control of the company. The rest are elected by Class A shareholders.

The company's dual-class share structure became the topic of a public dispute with Hassan Elmasry, a London-based portfolio manager with Morgan Stanley, who said the Ochs-Sulzberger's grip on the company kept its management from adapting quickly to the changing media landscape. The bitter conflict eventually led the family to withdraw over $100 million from Morgan Stanley's management, and Morgan Stanley to dump its Class NYTCO shares, representing a roughly 7.2% stake in the company.

Now, the company faces a new challenge from Harbinger Capital Partners and Firebrand Partners, which recently upped their stake in the company to 19%. While trying to strike a friendly tone, Firebrand executive Scott Galloway said in a letter to Arthur O. Sulzberger that the companies were proposing their own slate of four candidates for the Class A positions on the board, and would campaign for the support of other Class A shareholders. Harbinger and Firebrand say the four proposed candidates would help the company expand its digital businesses more quickly.