New York Times names Joseph Kahn as its next executive editor

The New York Times named Joseph Kahn as its next executive editor, elevating the newsroom's top deputy to replace Dean Baquet.

Mr Kahn (57) has been the paper’s managing editor since 2016. Mr Baquet (65) led the newsroom since 2014. The top editor at the Times typically retires at age 65.

The handoff will be much smoother than eight years ago, when Jill Abramson, the first woman to run the Times, was suddenly ousted and replaced by Mr Baquet.

Mr Kahn on June 14th will take over a newsroom that has maintained its reputation for quality journalism, winning Pulitzer Prizes year after year. But its leaders are also wrestling with questions brought on by the digital era, such as how much time reporters should spend on Twitter and how to retain stars who are being lured by side projects such as podcasts and newsletters.

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Mr Kahn had previously served as the New York Times’s foreign editor, Beijing bureau chief and a reporter covering international economics and trade. His father, Leo Kahn, co-founded the office supply chain Staples Inc.

Much of Mr Baquet’s tenure coincided with Donald Trump’s presidency, when his attacks on the paper and a nonstop cycle of big stories led to record growth in digital subscriptions. That helped put the paper on stronger financial footing and made it less reliant on its shrinking print advertising business.

Wall Street has cheered the company’s digital transformation. Since Mr Baquet took over the newsroom, New York Times shares have tripled, from about $15 (€13.89) in May 2014 to about $44 on Tuesday. They rose 0.9 per cent in New York in early trading.

Journalists

The added revenue helped the newspaper hire more journalists, rising from 1,300 when Mr Baquet took over to more than 1,750. In February, it set a new goal of attracting 15 million subscribers by the end of 2027.

The New York Times now is looking for ways to keep its subscriber momentum going during the relatively quieter Biden years.

It recently bolstered its sports coverage by buying the Athletic, a sports-news website, for $550 million. It’s also investing in other areas, such as podcasting, games and cooking recipes. – Bloomberg