Trancontinental trouble*

Taking a page from the Hearst Corp. playbook, the New York Times Company has threatened to close the Boston Globe unless the unions there agree to $20 million worth of concessions. This is likely to mean pay cuts and an end to pension benefits.

As with Hearst's San Francisco Chronicle, the Globe is reportedly bleeding cash:

Earlier this week, the Globe newsroom completed cutting the equivalent of 50 full-time jobs. But the deteriorating economy has made the paper's financial outlook much worse. Management told union leaders Thursday that the Globe will lose $85 million in 2009, unless serious cutbacks are made, according to a Globe employee briefed on the discussions. Last year the paper lost an estimated $50 million, the employee said.

(h/t Romenesko)

*Update: News reports of the impending death of the Boston Globe (including the one in the Boston Globe) are greatly exaggerated, according to Alan Mutter.