September 16, 2016 | No Comments
The New York Times has named Joe Kahn managing editor, reinstating the second most powerful position on the newspaper’s masthead and elevating a key lieutenant who is seen by many as an obvious successor to executive editor Dean Baquet.
In his new role, Kahn will be the second-in-command and will “lead our efforts to build The Times of the future, and to grapple with questions of what we cover going forward, and what our desks should look like,” Baquet wrote in a memo announcing the change.
The appointment of Kahn – who has most recently been leading the Times’ global expansion efforts as international editor – is something of a reversal for Baquet, who decided two years ago that the paper would replace the “managing editor” position with a group of deputy executive editors.
Kahn’s name is often floated in the parlor games about who will become the next executive editor when Baquet retires in another few years. His promotion seems to place him more firmly in contention for the top job, along with opinion page editor James Bennet, a Times veteran who was recruited back to the paper this summer after 10 years as editor in chief of The Atlantic.
Insiders were apparently stunned by the move, as many had no indication it was coming. “People are going nuts here,” one Times editor told POLITICO.
In another seismic shift for the newsroom, Baquet also announced that Susan Chira will leave the masthead to write about gender issues for the Times. Chira, who rose to the position of deputy executive editor after a tour as the Times’ foreign editor, has essentially been the second most powerful editor at the Times for the past several years, and has most recently been responsible for the Times’ daily page one layout.
“She will take on a new and experimental writing role, covering the topic for Opinion and the newsroom,” Baquet wrote. “James Bennet and I both feel that no one is more qualified than Susan to understand and respect the line between our worlds.”
Times Kremlinologists will no doubt be analyzing what this all means for other senior newsroom figures. For one thing, there’s the question of who will succeed Kahn as international editor.
One obvious candidate is Lydia Polgreen, who has been overseeing the so-called “NYT Global” expansion under Kahn.
“Lydia … will play an even larger role in that effort going forward, within the newsroom and companywide,” Baquet wrote. “Her goal will be to accelerate the growth we’ve seen in our international audience.”
The Times’ other two most senior masthead editors, Janet Elder and Matt Purdy, will maintain their current roles.
“Janet will continue her role leading newsroom operations and personnel, and will work closely with Joe on the restructuring of the newsroom,” Baquet wrote. “Besides his job running investigations and large enterprise, Matt will take on a larger role in news coverage. He will work with Joe and me to figure out what that operation should look like now.”