A. G. Sulzberger Explained

A. G. Sulzberger
Birth Name:Arthur Gregg Sulzberger
Birth Date:5 August 1980
Birth Place:Washington, D.C., U.S.
Occupation:Publisher, The New York Times
Chairman, The New York Times Company
Education:Brown University (BA)
Relatives:Arthur Ochs Sulzberger (grandfather)
Arthur Hays Sulzberger (great-grandfather)
Adolph Ochs (great-great-grandfather)

Arthur Gregg Sulzberger (born August 5, 1980) is an American journalist serving as the chairman of The New York Times Company and publisher of its flagship newspaper, The New York Times.

Early life and education

Sulzberger was born in Washington, D.C., on August 5, 1980, to Gail Gregg and Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr. He is of German ancestry. His paternal grandfather, Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, was Jewish, and the rest of his family is of Christian background, including Episcopalian and Congregationalist.[1]

Sulzberger is a fourth-generation descendant of Adolph Ochs, who bought the New York Times in 1896.[2] The Times has been managed and published by Adolph Ochs's family since that date.

Sulzberger attended Ethical Culture Fieldston School and Brown University, graduating in 2003 with a major in political science.[3] At Brown, Sulzberger worked briefly for The Brown Daily Herald as a contributing writer.[4]

Career

Providence Journal

After being encouraged by Brown journalism professor Tracy Breton to apply,[5] he interned at The Providence Journal from 2004 to 2006, working from the paper's office in Wakefield.[6] While there, he revealed that membership of the Narragansett Lions Club was not open to women. Despite threats from the club to withdraw their advertising if the story ran, the Journal published Sulzberger's story. The club began admitting women a few months later.

The Oregonian

Sulzberger worked as a reporter for The Oregonian newspaper in Portland from 2006 to 2009, writing more than 300 pieces about local government and public life, including a series of investigative exposés on misconduct by Multnomah County Sheriff Bernie Giusto.[7]

The New York Times

Sulzberger began writing for The New York Times as a metro reporter in February 2009,[8] which published his first article on March 2.[9] He became a national correspondent,[10] heading the Kansas City bureau and covering the Midwest region.[11] [12] The 2017 film Kodachrome, directed by Mark Raso, is based on his 2010 article about a rural community that became the last place to develop Kodachrome film.[13]

In 2013, Sulzberger was tapped by then-executive editor Jill Abramson to lead the team that produced the Times Innovation Report,[14] an internal assessment of the challenges facing the Times in the digital age.[15] [16] [17] He was the lead author of the 97-page report,[11] [15] which documented in "clinical detail" how the Times was losing ground to "nimbler competitors" and "called for revolutionary changes".[18] The Innovation Report was leaked to BuzzFeed News in March 2014.[19]

Sulzberger was named associate editor for newsroom strategy in August 2015.[16] [20] In that role, he was part of the group that outlined the Times plan to double the news outlet's digital revenue by 2020 and increase collaboration between departments,[21] [22] dubbed "Our Path Forward".[23] [24] In October 2016, he was named deputy publisher, putting him in line to succeed his father as publisher.[25] [26] His cousins Sam Dolnick, now a deputy managing editor of the Times,[27] and David Perpich, now head of standalone products and a member of the New York Times Company board,[28] were also considered for the role.[21] [29]

On December 14, 2017, it was announced that Sulzberger would take over as publisher on January 1, 2018. He is the sixth member of the Ochs-Sulzberger family in the role.[30] Though The New York Times Company is public, all voting shares are controlled by the Ochs-Sulzberger Family Trust. SEC filings state the trust's "primary objective" is that the Times continues "as an independent newspaper, entirely fearless, free of ulterior influence and unselfishly devoted to the public welfare".[16] On his first day as publisher, Sulzberger wrote an essay noting that he was taking over in a "period of exciting innovation and growth", but also a "period of profound challenge". He committed to holding the Times "to the highest standards of independence, rigor, and fairness".[31]

As publisher, Sulzberger oversees the news outlet's journalism and business operations.[32] Sulzberger has been the principal architect of the news outlet's digital transformation and has led its efforts to become a subscriber-first business.[33] He became publisher on January 1, 2018,[34] succeeding his father Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr.,[35] although the elder Sulzberger remained chairman of The New York Times Company until the end of 2020.[36] Sulzberger became the chairman of The New York Times Company on January 1, 2021.

Sulzberger met with President Donald Trump at the White House on July 20, 2018. The meeting was off-the-record, but after President Trump tweeted about it eight days later, Sulzberger "pushed back hard" to dispute the President's characterization of the meeting. Sulzberger said in a statement that at the meeting, he "told the president directly that I thought that his [anti-press] language was not just divisive but increasingly dangerous. I warned that this inflammatory language is contributing to a rise in threats against journalists and will lead to violence."[37] [38] [39] Sulzberger met with President Trump in the Oval Office a second time, on January 31, 2019, for an on-the-record interview along with Times reporters Peter Baker and Maggie Haberman.[40] [41] He has said that an independent press "is not a liberal ideal or a progressive ideal or a Democratic ideal. It's an American ideal."[42] In 2020, Sulzberger voiced concern about the disappearance of local news, saying that "if we don't find a path forward" for local journalism, "I believe we'll continue to watch society grow more polarized, less empathetic, more easily manipulated by powerful interests and more untethered from the truth."[43]

According to anonymous sources within the newspaper's staff, upon taking his position in 2018 Sulzburger "told employees explicitly that his biggest concern was that the paper’s audience saw it as a 'liberal rag...' [his] vision for the paper is to change that perception and court conservative readers."[44] [45] However, this view was refuted by The Economist, which published a study evidencing a gradual leftward shift in the partisan slant of The New York Times, beginning in 2017.[46] The New York Times' former opinion section editor James Bennet, in light of the paper's Tom Cotton controversy, also disagreed, arguing that by catering to a partisan readership and an influx of new journalists focusing on digital content the New York Times under A.G. Sulzberger had taken on an "illiberal bias".[47]

A Politico report detailed that Sulzberger has made a sit-down interview with President Joe Biden a priority for the newspaper, which claims to have interviewed every sitting president since Franklin D. Roosevelt.[48] Despite efforts to secure an interview, including appeals from Sulzberger directly to Vice President Kamala Harris, the White House has not allowed the Times the same level of access to the president as it did during the Trump Administration. An anonymous Times journalist told Politico in 2024, "All these Biden people think that the problem is Peter Baker or whatever reporter they’re mad at that day ... It's A.G. [Sulzberger], he's the one who is pissed [that] Biden hasn't done any interviews and quietly encourages all the tough reporting on his age." In a statement from The New York Times, an uncredited spokesperson responded to the story emphasizing that it "should be troubling that President Biden has so actively and effectively avoided questions from independent journalists during his term" and the paper's commitment to a free press.[49] [50]

Personal life and family

Through his father, Sulzberger is a grandson of Arthur Ochs "Punch" Sulzberger Sr., great-grandson of Arthur Hays Sulzberger, and great-great-grandson of Adolph Ochs. In 2018, he married Molly Messick.

See also

Notes and References

  1. News: The Sulzberger family: A complicated Jewish legacy at The New York Times . JTA . December 18, 2017.
  2. Web site: Adolph S. Ochs Dead at 77; Publisher of Times Since 1896. The New York Times . 2019-05-31.
  3. News: Barron. James. October 20, 2016. A.G. Sulzberger: Leading Change at The New York Times as Journalism Evolves. en-US. The New York Times. January 12, 2022. 0362-4331.
  4. Web site: Public Enemy No. 1. January 12, 2022. www.brownalumnimagazine.com.
  5. News: 'He doesn't like bullies': The story of the 37-year-old who took over the New York Times and is taking on Trump . June 25, 2020 . The Washington Post . July 30, 2018 . Dan . Zak . Sarah . Ellison . Ben . Terris . Breton urged him to apply for a two-year internship at the Providence Journal....
  6. News: Rosenberg. Alan. Sulzberger didn't back down in Narragansett confrontation. December 15, 2017. The Providence Journal. December 14, 2017. Providence, Rhode Island. Arthur Gregg Sulzberger ... took part in an internship program at The Providence Journal from 2004 to 2006.
  7. News: Rogoway. Mike. A.G. Sulzberger, New York Times' publisher and former Oregonian reporter, talks journalism in the digital age. The Oregonian. February 9, 2018. Portland, Oregon. February 13, 2018.
  8. News: Wemple . Erik . Erik Wemple . A.G. Sulzberger to assume publisher role at New York Times on Jan. 1 . July 13, 2020 . The Washington Post . December 14, 2017.
  9. News: Sulzberger . A. G. . Second Snow Day Unlikely, Mayor Says . The New York Times . March 2, 2009.
  10. News: Trotta . Daniel . Leadership of New York Times passes to next-generation Sulzberger . July 13, 2020 . . December 14, 2017.
  11. News: Klein . Julia M. . Public Enemy No 1 . July 13, 2020 . Brown Alumni Magazine . Brown University . July 8, 2019.
  12. Web site: New York Times Publisher Arthur O. Sulzberger, Jr. to Retire at Year's End; A.G. Sulzberger Named Publisher . July 13, 2020. December 14, 2017 . Eileen . Murphy . Danielle Rhoades . Ha . The New York Times . U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
  13. News: Sulzberger . A. G. . For Kodachrome Fans, Road Ends at Photo Lab in Kansas . https://web.archive.org/web/20111006022205/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/30/us/30film.html . October 6, 2011 . . December 30, 2010 . April 24, 2018.
  14. Web site: Benton . Joshua . The leaked New York Times innovation report is one of the key documents of this media age . Nieman Lab . . July 13, 2020 . May 15, 2014.
  15. Snyder . Gabriel . The New Tork Times Claws Its Way Into the Future . . February 12, 2017 . July 13, 2020.
  16. Vick . Karl . How A.G. Sulzberger Is Leading the New York Times Into the Future . . October 10, 2019 . July 13, 2020.
  17. News: Levitz . Eric . A.G. Sulzberger Vanquishes His Cousins, Becomes Deputy Publisher of the New York Times . July 13, 2020 . . October 19, 2016.
  18. The Heirs . . August 23, 2015 . July 13, 2020.
  19. News: Tanzer . Myles . Exclusive: New York Times Internal Report Painted Dire Digital Picture . July 13, 2020 . . . May 15, 2014.
  20. News: Baquet. Dean. Arthur Gregg Sulzberger Named Associate Editor. The New York Times . July 30, 2015.
  21. News: Ember. Sydney. December 14, 2017. A.G. Sulzberger, 37, to Take Over as New York Times Publisher. The New York Times. limited. October 19, 2018.
  22. Steigrad . Alexandra . New York Times Names A.G. Sulzberger Deputy Publisher . . October 19, 2016 . July 13, 2020.
  23. Web site: Benton . Joshua . This is The New York Times' digital path forward . NiemanLab . Nieman Foundation for Journalism . July 13, 2020.
  24. Web site: Our Path Forward . The New York Times Company . July 13, 2020 . October 7, 2015.
  25. News: Ember . Sydney . October 19, 2016 . New York Times Names A.G. Sulzberger Deputy Publisher . limited . The New York Times . October 19, 2018.
  26. News: Sherman. Gabriel. The Heirs: A Three-Way, Mostly Civilized Family Contest to Become the Next Publisher of The Times. New York. August 24, 2015.
  27. News: Sam Dolnick . July 13, 2020 . The New York Times.
  28. News: David Perpich . July 13, 2020 . The New York Times Company.
  29. News: 'He doesn't like bullies': The story of the 37-year-old who took over the New York Times and is taking on Trump . July 13, 2020 . The Washington Post . July 30, 2018 . Dan . Zak . Sarah . Ellison . Ben . Terris.
  30. News: New York Times Names A.G. Sulzberger, 37, Its Next Publisher . Wamsley . Laurel . December 14, 2017 . . December 23, 2017.
  31. News: Sulzberger . A. G. . A Note from Our New Publisher . July 13, 2020 . The New York Times . January 1, 2018.
  32. News: On Trust and Transparency: A.G. Sulzberger, Our New Publisher, Answers Readers' Questions . July 14, 2020 . The New York Times . January 22, 2018.
  33. Pompeo . Joe . "The Time Will Come When This Is a Digital-Only News Organization": A.G. Sulzberger, Sam Dolnick, and David Perpich Open Up About Succession, Trump, and the Eventual End of Print . Vanity Fair . October 9, 2018 . July 14, 2020.
  34. Klein . Julia M. . Public Enemy No 1 . Brown Alumni Magazine . July 8, 2019 . July 14, 2020 . Brown University.
  35. News: Levitz . Eric . A.G. Sulzberger Vanquishes Cousins, Becomes Deputy Publisher of New York Times . . October 19, 2016.
  36. Web site: Chris Isidore. New York Times chairman retires after 23 years leading the board. December 31, 2020. CNN.
  37. Web site: NYT publisher disputes Trump's retelling of off-the-record conversation. politico.com. July 30, 2018.
  38. Web site: New York Times publisher A.G. Sulzberger chides President Donald Trump over 'fake news' claims. usatoday.com. July 30, 2018.
  39. Web site: New York Times publisher says he chided Trump not to call press the enemy. nbcnews.com. July 30, 2018.
  40. News: Stewart . Emily . "I'm sort of entitled to a great story": Trump wants the New York Times to love him . July 13, 2020 . Vox.com . February 1, 2019.
  41. News: The President and the Publisher . July 13, 2020 . The New York Times . February 1, 2019.
  42. News: NYT publisher A.G. Sulzberger says an independent press is an 'American ideal' . July 13, 2020 . . October 23, 2018.
  43. News: Knight Media Forum 2020 — A.G. Sulzberger . July 13, 2020 . The New York Times Company . February 26, 2020.
  44. Web site: TransLash Podcast.
  45. Web site: The American Prospect.
  46. Web site: American journalism sounds much more Democratic than Republican . The Economist . 15 December 2023.
  47. Web site: Bennet . James . When the New York Times lost its way . 1843 . The Economist . 15 December 2023.
  48. Web site: Stokols . Eli . April 25, 2024 . The Petty Feud Between the NYT and the White House . April 26, 2024 . Politico.
  49. Web site: 2024-04-25 . A Statement From The New York Times on Presidential News Coverage . 2024-04-26 . The New York Times Company . en-US.
  50. Web site: 2024-04-25 . New York Times — And Some of Its Top Reporters — Fires Back At Politico Report Alleging Feud With Biden . 2024-04-26 . Mediaite . en.