Newspaper & Mailroom

Dean Baquet Named Executive Editor of The New York Times

Monday 19. May 2014 - The New York Times announced today that Dean Baquet has been named executive editor, effective immediately. Mr. Baquet, a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist who has been managing editor at The Times since September 2011, succeeds Jill Abramson.

In making the announcement, Arthur Sulzberger, Jr., the publisher of The New York Times and chairman of The New York Times Company, said, “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. 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.”
Mr. Baquet said, “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. The talented journalists of The New York Times make it the greatest news operation in history and I look forward to working with them to deliver the world’s most engaging and enterprising journalism.”
Mr. Sulzberger continued, “Jill Abramson has my sincere thanks for not just preserving and extending the excellence of our news report during her time as executive editor, but also for inspiring her colleagues to adjust their approach to how we deliver the news. Her leadership helped further The Times down the path to our digital future, particularly with her embrace and oversight of new platforms and products like The Upshot, NYT Now and NYT5.”
Ms. Abramson said, “I’ve loved my run at The Times. I got to work with the best journalists in the world doing so much stand-up journalism. Holding powerful institutions accountable is the mission of The Times and the hallmark of my time as executive editor, whether stories about China, government secrecy, or powerful figures and corporations.”
Ms. Abramson continued, “We successfully blazed trails on the digital frontier and we have come so far in inventing new forms of story-telling. Our masthead became half female for the first time and so many great women hold important newsroom positions. Dean has been my partner in all this and he will be a great executive editor. I thank Arthur, who has been a steadfast protector of our journalism, for the chance to serve.”
Mr. Sulzberger added, “Our business continues its digital transformation and in our newsroom, we are moving fast to a digital first reality. With Jill, Dean was closely involved in the work of our newsroom innovation team over the past six months, which helped to outline how we can best organize to extend our tradition of innovation and excellence into the future. I’m very pleased that he will now lead that work as executive editor.”
Dean Baquet Bio
Before serving as managing editor, Mr. Baquet, who is 57, had been an assistant managing editor and Washington bureau chief for The New York Times since March 2007. Before that, he worked for the Los Angeles Times, where he served as managing editor before being named editor. During the 1990s, Mr. Baquet was an investigative reporter and national editor for The New York Times in New York and Washington, DC. He worked previously for The Times-Picayune in New Orleans and for the Chicago Tribune, where he was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting in 1988. He majored in English at Columbia University.
Jill Abramson Bio
Jill Abramson, who is 60, was named executive editor of The New York Times in September 2011. She joined the paper in September 1997 and was managing editor from August 2003 until August 2011. Ms. Abramson worked at The Wall Street Journal from 1988 to 1997. Ms. Abramson received a B.A. degree in history and literature, graduating magna cum laude, from Harvard College in 1976. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences and the American Philosophical Society.