Dean Baquet, 57, will become the first African-American executive editor at the New York Times according to an announcement made by the publisher and chairman of The New York Times Arthur Sulzberger Jr. on Wednesday.
Baquet, who was born in new Orleans and has worked in the newspaper industry for over 25 years replaces Jill Abramson who left the top position unexpectedly due to an alleged issue with management in the newsroom. Apparently Jill was the first female executive editor of the newspaper.
The Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and former editor of the Los Angeles Times expressed his delight by saying it was an honour to be asked to lead such a newsroom, Baquet at the time of the appointment was the newspapers managing Editor.
Sulzberger heaped praise on Baquet as he announced the appointment by labeling him as an exceptional reporter, and claiming that there was no one in the New York Times’ newsroom or anywhere better qualified. Baquet, who left Tribune in 1990 to join the New York Times and served in several capacities before leaving to join the Los Angeles Times as an editor and executive Vice President and then rejoined The New York Times as chief executive of the paper’s Washington bureau.
