Dean Baquet becomes The New York Times’ first African-American executive editor
Dean Baquet has been named executive editor of The New York Times, becoming the first African American to hold the position. He will replace Jill Abramson.
Publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. made the surprise announcement to editors and reporters Wednesday afternoon. The company didn’t give a reason for the change, according to The Associated Press. In his announcement, Sulzberger said Abramson’s departure was related to “an issue with management in the newsroom,” according to Politico, and had nothing to do with the quality of the paper’s journalism during her tenure. Abramson was not present for the newsroom announcement, Politico noted.
Baquet, 57, kicked off his career in journalism at The States-Item in New Orleans. He later worked for the The Times-Picayune.
As a reporter at the Chicago Tribune, Baquet won a Pulitzer Prize in 1988 for coverage of corruption at the Chicago City Council. He also served as editor of the Los Angeles Times.
Congratulations to Dean Baquet.
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