Jill Abramson formally took over as executive editor of the New York Times Tuesday, and in doing so she sent out a memo outlining her senior management team.
Dean Baquet, formerly Washington D.C. bureau chief, will take over as managing editor for news, meaning that he will lead the paper’s “news report across all subjects and platforms.”
Platforms seems to be a key word since Abramson said digital innovation and integration was one of her two focuses (the other being…the news).
Two assistant managing editors will serve under Baquet -- Rick Berke and Susan Chira.
Berke, formerly national editor, will oversee features and weekly sections. Abramson described him as “the single best editor at finding exactly the right person in the newsroom who can deliver the perfect, high-concept piece.”
Chira, who served as foreign editor, will play a larger role in the news side.
John Geddes continues as the Managing Editor for Operations, but will focus more on digital ventures.
Finally, Jim Roberts will continue as assistant managing editor and oversee digital efforts, working closely with Geddes.
With the masthead set, the Times also added a pair of veteran reporters to its business section courtesy of the Wall Street Journal.
Nick Wingfield, a technology reporter, will join the Times’ tech team while Amy Chozick, a television and culture reporter at the Journal, will assume the corporate media beat.
Here is Abramson's memo:
Colleagues,
I couldn’t be more excited about today and continuing to work with all of you to create our daily (hourly) miracle. I was having breakfast late last week with someone who covers media for one of our competitors. He said, “I can’t believe you all do what you do every day.” The depth of our global reporting across so many subjects, the smartness of our feature sections and magazines, the range of information packed into our interactive graphics, the brilliant photo-journalism — the whole supremely elegant and urgent digital and print package you all create — simply dazzled him. “The gap between you and everyone else has never been wider,” he said. And he wasn’t (at least overtly) looking to work here.
Thanks to Arthur, Janet, Michael, Scott, Martin, Andy, and mostly, Bill Keller, there couldn’t be a stronger starting point for our team. My gratitude to them is boundless.
It is important to me that the leadership team I’ve begun to assemble have clear roles which all of you can understand. This is a start, explaining some changed roles. Some leaders will continue in the same roles, because they’ve made themselves irreplaceable, at least to us rookies in our first year. Others are considering special assignments that we deem critical for Year One.
So here’s just the beginning of the line-up, beginning with me:
I plan to focus my energies on two areas: digital innovation and integration and, no surprise here, the news.
