Overshadowed by the furor over the surprising and brutal sacking of The New York Times executive editor Jill Abramson Wednesday was the fact that, for the first time, the nation's premier news outlet has an African American at the helm of its newsroom.
Dean Baquet, who had been the paper's managing editor, has two major challenges ahead of him.
One is to calm the newsroom by providing positive, engaged leadership. The other and far more daunting one is to help shape the paper's future in the digital age.
Jill Abramson(Photo: Evan Agostini, AP)
Baquet seems ideally suited for the first task. In addition to his sterling journalism credentials, Baquet has a reputation as a leader who is good with people. That will be critical in a newsroom bruised by Abramson's style, which has been described as both aloof and harsh. But Abramson had her supporters, and no doubt some of them are upset by the callous way in which she was shown the door.
In a Times story on the upheaval at the paper, Baquet is quoted as saying that he learned from his onetime boss, former Los Angeles Times editor John Carroll, "that great editors can also be humane editors."
The new editor also said he would "walk the room." That's a management technique that can pay huge newsroom dividends. I remember vividly the galvanizing effect the great Washington Post executive editor Ben Bradlee had as he moved among his minions, kibitzing, looking at stories, slapping backs, even comparing tattoos with a news assistant.
Baquet has a history as a champion of the newsroom. Back in 2006, after he had succeeded Carroll as editor of the L.A. Times, he refused management demandsto make more staff cuts, and went public with it. Shortly! thereafter, the New Orleans native left the paper, landing as Washington bureau chief of the Times, where he had worked before.
Dean Baquet(Photo: New York Times via EPA)
But the truly formidable task for Baquet and the Times is one facing all legacy news outlets: securing a future in the digital world.
The Times has done better than many others. It deserves great credit for its trendsetting decision to charge for digital content, and for doing it in a smart, sophisticated way. The paper now has 799,000 digital-only customers. And it showed that a traditional news operation could set the standard for digital display with its impressive treatment of its Snow Fall story, its takeout on a deadly avalanche.
But the paper, like so many others, has a long way to go. An innovation report put together under the leadership of A.G. Sulzberger, son of Times publisher and New York Times Co. Chairman Arthur Sulzberger Jr., had grim conclusions about the state of the Times. It found that the paper was falling behind competitors when it comes to reshaping itself for a digital future.
The report says the Times has a long way to go to become a truly digital-first operation. It is still too much in thrall to the customs and the demands of print.
"The habits and traditions built over a century and a half of putting out the paper are a powerful, conservative force as we transition to digital — none more so than the gravitational pull of Page One," the report said.
In announcing Baquet's promotion Wednesday, publisher Sulzberger noted pointedly that the new executive editor had been "closely involved" with those who prepared the document.
Baquet's major mission will be to continue to foster the first-class journalism the Times p! roduces d! ay after day — the paper was very good during Abramson's tenure — while sharply accelerating the digital transformation. No easy task.
As the report makes clear, old habits die hard. It's a lot easier to talk about digital-first than it is to make it happen.
One more point: The Abramson implosion reminds us that Sulzberger has had his problems when it comes to assessing leadership talent. One of Abramson's predecessors, Howell Raines, had a toxic tenure in the newsroom. So that's two out of three top editors who haven't worked out. Here's hoping Baquet improves his boss's batting average.
And one lingering question: Why did Abramson's departure have to be so bloody?Generally, when a top executive is dismissed, they get to hang around for a little while. But Abramson was kicked to the curb instantly. She wasn't at the changing of the guard ceremony. Her name was instantly removed from the masthead. She was gone.
It's still not precisely clear why Abramson was dismissed. Sulzberger said vaguely that new blood could better manage the newsroom. It's still not known if one action, one dispute, triggered the decision.
But unless there was something truly atrocious — and there's no hint of that — Abramson, a top-flight journalist but flawed leader, deserved better.
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