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The New York Times stopped using 111-111-1111 as its outgoing caller ID on August 15, 2011. Calls from its offices began displaying the paper’s main number, 212-556-1234. The Times said the shared number had been used to help protect newsroom sources, but it retired the display ahead of an expected federal caller ID change and because some organizations blocked calls showing it.
What was 111-111-1111?
It was a shared caller ID displayed on calls from The New York Times’s offices. Rather than showing the originating newsroom extension, the calls showed 111-111-1111. The number became a recognizable oddity precisely because it looked unlike an ordinary phone number.
The Times reportedly began using it in 1999. The newspaper’s stated rationale was to make it harder for someone examining phone records obtained by subpoena to determine which newsroom extension had placed a call. iMediaEthics reported that telecommunications manager Lorraine Bellagamba described the number as “intended to help the newsroom protect its sources.” That fragment is the reported wording; it should not be taken as a complete quotation.
Why did the Times use the number?
The Times explained the practice as a source-protection measure. If calls from different newsroom extensions showed the same outgoing number, the caller ID would not itself identify which extension had placed a particular call. The stated aim was to limit what phone records could reveal about journalists’ contacts.
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That explanation describes the Times’s purpose, not an independently established measure of how much protection the arrangement provided. The available contemporaneous accounts do not specify the phone equipment or carrier configuration involved, nor do they quantify how often the number was used or how many calls it covered.
When did 111-111-1111 stop appearing?
The Times announced the change on August 12, 2011. It took effect on August 15: outgoing calls from the newspaper began displaying 212-556-1234, its main number, instead of 111-111-1111.
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| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1999 | The Times reportedly began using 111-111-1111 as a shared outgoing caller ID, according to the newspaper’s explanation reported at the time. |
| August 12, 2011 | The Times announced it would stop using the number. |
| August 15, 2011 | The caller ID change took effect; outgoing calls displayed 212-556-1234. |
Why did the Times change its caller ID?
The Times cited two practical reasons for ending the shared display:
- An expected federal caller ID requirement: Contemporary accounts said the newspaper anticipated a federal change requiring legitimate caller ID signatures. They do not establish that a law specifically compelled the Times to replace this number or confirm the final status and effective date of the anticipated change.
- Call blocking: The Times said some organizations blocked calls displaying 111-111-1111, making the shared number a barrier to reaching recipients.
So the number’s end was not simply a reported legal order to stop using it. The Times’s explanation connected the change to an expected regulatory shift and the difficulty of getting some calls through.
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What did recipients see?
Recipients of calls from the Times could see 111-111-1111 on their caller ID before August 15, 2011. The Payphone Project author recalled receiving a Times-associated call that displayed the number, an example of how it appeared to a recipient. That recollection illustrates the display but does not establish how common the calls were or how widely the public recognized the number.
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