The New York Times said paid subscriptions online and in print have soared since Donald Trump’s stunning election win and lingering criticism by the president-elect.
From the election on Nov. 8 through Saturday, the Times has seen "a net increase of approximately 132,000 paid subscriptions to our news products," the newspaper said in a statement to CNBC.
"This represents a dramatic rate of growth, 10 times, the same period one year ago," according to the statement .
New York Times CEO Mark Thompson told CNBC that he does not know whether these new subscribers will stay long term after the election excitement dies down.
"Overall, we're seeing [less] churn for the time. So the number of people net leaving the Times is reducing over time," Thompson said.
Trump is giving mixed messages about the Times in his statements, said Thompson.
Trump last week met staff and editors at his frequent Twitter target, which he has described as the "failing" and "dishonest" New York Times.
"Last Tuesday was a day that began with the president-election tweeting about the 'failing' New York Times. He certainly left us after we had lunch with him, talking about The New York Times as 'an American jewel, a world jewel,'" Thompson said.
While Trump's tweet claims that the Times changed "terms and conditions," the Times denied any change.
About 90 minutes before the gathering, Trump tweeted confirmation of the meeting, without explaining what changed his mind.
Thompson said he asked Trump last Tuesday about his threats to harden the nation's libel laws and whether he's committed to the First Amendment.
"He said, firstly, that someone had told him if he hardened the libel laws he might get sued a lot himself. And he finished by saying, 'I don't think you'll have anything to worry about,'" Thompson recounted.
"He had words of assurances in terms of freedom of speech. Again, that assurance is good to have, but let's watch and wait and see what happens," Thompson said.
"It's the fundamental task of the New York Times to hold all public figures, including the president-elect and when he becomes President Donald Trump, to account without fear or favor," Thompson said.
"We reach vast audiences in America. We're reaching about half of everyone who touches the news on ... the web," he said. "We've got around 125 [million] to 130 million users every month."
Meanwhile, earlier this month, the readers of The New York Times are speaking out against the newspaper's election coverage and complaining to their offices at "five times the normal level."
"The number of complaints coming into the public editor's office is five times the normal level, and the pace has only just recently tapered off," public editor Liz Spayd wrote. "My colleague Thomas Feyer, who oversees the letters to the editor, says the influx from readers is one of the largest since Sept. 11."
"From my conversations with readers, and from the emails that have come into my office," she added, "I can tell you there is a searing level of dissatisfaction out there with many aspects of the coverage."
On Nov. 13, two of the paper's leaders addressed their election coverage in a message to their subscribers:
"We aim to rededicate ourselves to the fundamental mission of Times journalism," wrote the Times' executive editor Dean Paquet and publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. "That is to report America and the world honestly, without fear or favor, striving always to understand and reflect all political perspectives and life experiences in the stories that we bring to you."
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