Times Staff Members Protest Cuts and Changes to News Operation

With the imminent elimination of a stand-alone copy desk at The New York Times, copy editors and reporters have sent two strongly worded letters to top management voicing their concerns over the changes to the newsroom’s structure.

On Wednesday, copy editors sent an open letter to Dean Baquet, The Times’s executive editor, and Joe Kahn, the managing editor, challenging the decision to cut staff and eradicate the copy desk, which is responsible for, among other things, catching factual and grammatical errors and ensuring that articles adhere to Times style guidelines.

“We have begun the humiliating process of justifying our continued presence at The New York Times,” the letter from the copy desk began.

On Thursday, Times reporters sent their own letter to Mr. Baquet and Mr. Kahn in support of the copy desk. “Editors — and yes, that especially means copy editors — save reporters and The Times every day from countless errors, large and small,” the reporters wrote.

“We believe that the plan to eliminate dozens of editing jobs and do away with the copy desks is ill-conceived and unwise, and will damage the quality of our product,” they added.

Times employees also staged a roughly 20-minute walkout Thursday afternoon to protest the impending staff cuts.