The New York Times founded and continuously published in New York City since September 18, 1851, has won as many as 117 Pulitzer Prizes, more than any other news organization. Since 1896, when Adolph S. Ochs bought it, the Ochs-Sulzberger family has controlled the newspaper. “The Times,” Arthur Hays Sulzberger said in 1963 when he named his son publisher, “is a family enterprise.”
Continuing that tradition, earlier this week, the newspaper announced Arthur Gregg Sulzberger, 36, as the new deputy publisher. It paves the way for this fifth generation family member to succeed his father, as publisher and chairman of The New York Times Company. The succession of his father Arthur Sulzberger Jr., in 1992, was mired in controversy. There was a widespread perception that sons in the Sulzberger line held an advantage. Hence this time, a seven-member committee was formed for the selection process. Eventually three cousins from the fifth generation were in fray. Apart from Mr. Sulzberger, the others were Sam Dolnick, 35 and David Perpich, 39. All three candidates were groomed for the position and held senior positions in the organization. Still, Mr. Sulzberger was widely considered the front-runner by employees in the newsroom, in part because he led the team that drafted The Times’s “innovation report” in 2014 which laid the groundwork for the company’s digital transformation and was read in the industry as a guide for sweeping change.
In the coming weeks the newspaper is expected to release the so-called 2020 Report, a blueprint for reconfiguring the company for a digital and mobile future. Simultaneously there are also reports of impending downsizing in the newsroom early next year. The incoming deputy publisher would also be responsible for choosing a successor to executive editor Dean P. Baquet, who turned 60 last month. Hence the selection of Mr. Sulzberger, comes at a crucial moment for The Times.
Source: New York Times, Oct. 19, 2016