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Jill Abramson out as executive editor of New York Times Jill Abramson out as executive editor of New York Times
(about 1 hour later)
The New York Times abruptly replaced its top editor, Jill Abramson, on Wednesday, ending what had been a stormy, three-year tenure. The New York Times abruptly replaced its top editor, Jill Abramson, on Wednesday, ending what had been a sometimes stormy, three-year tenure.
The Times said Abramson, 60, would be succeeded by her top deputy, Dean Baquet, currently the newspaper’s managing editor.The Times said Abramson, 60, would be succeeded by her top deputy, Dean Baquet, currently the newspaper’s managing editor.
Abramson, who worked in Washington for the Wall Street Journal and later was the Times’ bureau chief, was the first woman to become the top editor at the Times. Abramson, who worked in Washington for the Wall Street Journal and later was the Times’ bureau chief there, was the first woman to head the Times’ newsroom since its founding in 1851.
“I’ve loved my run at The Times,” she said in a statement released by the Times. “I got to work with the best journalists in the world doing so much stand-up journalism,” she said, noting her appointment of many senior female editors as one of her achievements.“I’ve loved my run at The Times,” she said in a statement released by the Times. “I got to work with the best journalists in the world doing so much stand-up journalism,” she said, noting her appointment of many senior female editors as one of her achievements.
The Times said the company’s publisher and chairman, Arthur Sulzberger Jr., made the announcement to senior editors in a meeting Wednesday afternoon. He thereafter informed the newspaper’s newsroom. The Times said the company’s publisher and chairman, Arthur Sulzberger Jr., made the announcement to senior editors in a meeting Wednesday afternoon. He then informed the newspaper’s newsroom.
“There is no journalist in our newsroom or elsewhere better qualified to take on the responsibilities of executive editor at this time than Dean Baquet,” the newspaper quoted Sulzberger as saying. “He is an exceptional reporter and editor with impeccable news judgment who enjoys the confidence and support of his colleagues around the world and across the organization.” “There is no journalist in our newsroom or elsewhere better qualified to take on the responsibilities of executive editor at this time than Dean Baquet,” Sulzberger said in a statement. “He is an exceptional reporter and editor with impeccable news judgment who enjoys the confidence and support of his colleagues around the world and across the organization.”
Baquet, 57, a former editor of the Los Angeles Times, will be the first African-American to become executive editor of the Times. He told his newspaper, “It is an honor to be asked to lead the only newsroom in the country that is actually better than it was a generation ago, one that approaches the world with wonder and ambition every day.” Baquet, 57, a former editor of the Los Angeles Times, will be the first African-American to become executive editor of the Times. “It is an honor to be asked to lead the only newsroom in the country that is actually better than it was a generation ago, one that approaches the world with wonder and ambition every day,” he said in a news release.
The newspaper did not comment on the reasons for Abramson’s departure, but she and Baquet had clashed over the newspaper’s direction. Some within the Times have been privately critical of Abramson’s sometimes brusque management style. The newspaper did not comment on the reasons for Abramson’s departure, but she and Baquet had reportedly clashed over the newspaper’s direction and management . Some within the Times have been privately critical of Abramson’s management style, which they have described as aloof.
In his address to the newsroom, Sulzberger said he felt the need to make a management change, according to journalists at the paper. Although he did not offer details, Sulzberger said Abramson’s departure was related to her management of the newsroom. He made no effort to suggest that Abramson was leaving of her own accord.
People at the paper said Abramson and Sulzberger had clashed recently, but it was unclear what their differences were. Another factor, they said, was Abramson’s souring relationship with Mark Thompson, the chief executive of the New York Times Co. and a former journalist at the BBC whom Sulzberger recruited in 2012.
Despite the internal criticism of Abramson during her tenure, the decision to replace her shocked many at the Times and elsewhere. “Everyone gob-smacked in NYT newsroom over Jill Abramson leaving and Dean Baquet taking over,” tweeted Times arts reporter Patricia Cohen not long after the news broke.
The newspaper has rarely replaced its top editor before retirement — Abramson’s predecessor, Bill Keller, held the job for eight years — and Abramson was young enough to have served at least a decade or longer in the position. What’s more, her status as the first woman to hold the job gave her special distinction.
Baquet, a popular figure in the Times’ newsroom, was the paper’s Washington bureau chief before becoming managing editor in 2011. He was also managing editor and editor of the Los Angeles Times. He won the Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting at the Chicago Tribune in 1988.