Employees at the New York Times were stunned to hear that Executive Editor Jill Abramson was dismissed on Wednesday. She was replaced by Managing Editor Dean Baquet. Publisher and chairman Arthur O. Sulzberger Jr. made the announcement to the staff, citing “an issue with management in the newsroom.”
Abramson, 60, had only held the position since September 2011. People in the company who’d been briefed on the situation said that Abramson and Sulzberger had a tense relationship. He was also concerned about employees who had complained that she was polarizing and mercurial. She also butted heads with Baquet.
In recent weeks, her relationship with Baquet grew worse according to those sources. He became angry when he learned of Abramson’s plans to hire senior editor at The Guardian, Janine Gibson, and put her in alongside him as a co-managing editor, without consulting him first.
Abramson was taking steps to improve her management style by hiring a consultant to help her, but Sulzberger had made the decision to oust her earlier this month. Baquet was informed of his promotion last Thursday. It is said that this decision is informed in part by Sulzberger retreating from looking at their portfolio of media properties and instead focusing on the paper itself in an effort to spur growth. In order for this new game plan to be a success, he needed to have a positive working relationship with the executive editor.
Abramson had made history as the first woman to run the paper, and now her firing has made for history again. Baquet, 57, will be the first African -American executive editor of the storied publication.
According to the New York Times:
In accepting the job, Mr. Baquet, 57, made several promises to the staff in the newsroom. “I will listen hard, I will be hands on, I will be engaged. I’ll walk the room,” he said. “That’s the only way I know how to edit.”
Mr. Baquet thanked Ms. Abramson, who was not present at the announcement, for teaching him “the value of great ambition” and then added that John Carroll, whom he worked for at The Los Angeles Times, “told me that great editors can also be humane editors.” … “I’ve loved my run at The Times,” Ms. Abramson said in a prepared statement. “I got to work with the best journalists in the world doing so much stand-up journalism,” she added, noting her appointment of many senior female editors as one of her achievements.
Congratulations to Mr. Baquet on his extraordinary achievement. Hopefully he will fare better in the role than his predecessor.