Troubles to Come at the TImes?

This is a development to watch:

Dissident shareholder Harbinger Capital Partners has increased its stake in newspaper publishing company New York Times Co. to 11.8 percent, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Tuesday.

Harbinger, working together with Firebrand Partners founder Scott Galloway, a New York University business professor, has criticized the Times for not aggressively building up its digital businesses.

The investors have nominated four candidates for election to the board at the Times' annual shareholder meeting on April 22.

Earlier this month, Harbinger disclosed that it had raised its stake to more than 10 percent from 5 percent.

What this means is that the Times is in play, and is in danger of a hostile takeover. If you think that's unimaginable, a conquest of Dow Jones by Rupert Murdoch would have been inconceivable two years ago.

© 2007 Gary Weiss. All rights reserved.