I briefly met Dean Baquet at the Los Angeles Festival of Books and was strongly impressed by his people skills. Even though I had written critically of him and expected that he knew that, our short wave and exchange made me feel like a million bucks. It’s no surprise that he has risen to the top of his profession and spurned offers from competing journalism outfits such as Bloomberg News.
Would he be New York Times Editor if he were white? I don’t know. He does not identify as black but as creole (who were never slaves in his hometown of New Orleans).
I also suppose that the complaints about Jill Abramson from staffers were wide and deep and that Dean is much more popular in the newsroom (as well as among the business side).
New York Times executive editor Jill Abramson announced Wednesday that she will leave the paper, two sources familiar with the news informed POLITICO. Managing editor Dean Baquet will take over as executive editor, effective immediately.
The news was greeted with shock throughout the newsroom. Senior editors were unexpectedly summoned to a 2 p.m. leadership meeting at the Times headquarters in New York. The news was then announced to staff by publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. at a 2:35 p.m. meeting.
In his announcement, Sulzberger said Abramson’s departure was related to “an issue with management in the newsroom,” and had nothing to do with the quality of the paper’s journalism during her tenure. Abramson was not present for the newsroom announcement.
“I choose to appoint a new leader for our newsroom because I believe that new leadership will improve some aspects of the management of the newsroom,” Sulzberger said. “This is not about any disagreement between the newsroom and the business side.”
Baquet’s introduction as executive editor was greeted with a standing ovation in New York. Baquet, a former Washington bureau chief, will be the paper’s first African-American editor.
Here is New York Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr.’s memo to staff:
From: NYT Company Mail
Sent: Wednesday, May 14, 2014 2:34 PM
To: All Company Employees
Subject: Note from Arthur
Dear Colleagues,
I am writing to announce a leadership change in the newsroom. Effective today, Dean Baquet will become our new executive editor, succeeding Jill Abramson.
This appointment comes at a time when the newsroom is about to embark on a significant effort to transition more fully to a digital-first reality and where, across the organization, we are all learning to adapt to the rapid pace of change in our business.
We owe Jill an enormous debt of gratitude for positioning the newsroom to succeed on both of these critical counts and of course, for preserving and extending the level of our journalistic excellence and innovation. She’s laid a great foundation on which I fully expect Dean and his colleagues will build.
As those of you who know Dean will understand, he is uniquely suited to this role. He is a proven manager, both here at The Times and elsewhere. He is also a consummate journalist whose reputation as a fierce advocate for his reporters and editors is well-deserved. And importantly, he is an enthusiastic supporter of our push toward further creativity in how we approach the digital expression of our journalism.
I know you will join me, Mark and the rest of the senior leadership team in wishing Jill the best and congratulating Dean on his appointment.
Arthur
