Arthur Sulzberger, Jr., publisher of the New York Times, made headlines recently when he told an Israeli journalist that he did not know - or care - whether the 156-year-old paper would be distributed in its familiar print form five years from now.

While Mr Sulzberger's comments were provocative - and potentially frightening to Times readers of a certain age - there was one problem: They seemed to contradict the man the New York Times is paying to predict the future.