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| Dean Baquet: ‘My goal is to keep the number of reporters really high at the New York Times’ | Dean Baquet: ‘My goal is to keep the number of reporters really high at the New York Times’ |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| It is hard to imagine Dean Baquet, executive editor of the New York Times, ever punching his fist into a wall in anger; let alone twice. Yet Baquet’s appointment as the Times’s first black editor was overshadowed by the dramatic departure of his predecessor, Jill Abramson, and reports of his volcanic temper. | It is hard to imagine Dean Baquet, executive editor of the New York Times, ever punching his fist into a wall in anger; let alone twice. Yet Baquet’s appointment as the Times’s first black editor was overshadowed by the dramatic departure of his predecessor, Jill Abramson, and reports of his volcanic temper. |
| In person, Baquet is softly spoken, with an old school charm set off by his white collars and fancy cufflinks. In London to discuss plans for international expansion, the New Orleans native answers questions on the Times’s finances, why he doesn’t fear Facebook and what really happened when the Old Grey Lady axed its first female editor. | In person, Baquet is softly spoken, with an old school charm set off by his white collars and fancy cufflinks. In London to discuss plans for international expansion, the New Orleans native answers questions on the Times’s finances, why he doesn’t fear Facebook and what really happened when the Old Grey Lady axed its first female editor. |
| On the wall punching, he says, “That wasn’t a cool thing and I feel bad about that”, before adding somewhat ruefully, “I never get mad at people below me.” That his anger was directed at his boss, a woman, did not calm accusations of workplace sexism, even in such a liberal institution. Baquet, who first joined the Times in 1990, recognised the danger and says he “sought out senior women at the Times” to give his side of the story. “Other than the symbolism, it wasn’t a big issue for them.” | On the wall punching, he says, “That wasn’t a cool thing and I feel bad about that”, before adding somewhat ruefully, “I never get mad at people below me.” That his anger was directed at his boss, a woman, did not calm accusations of workplace sexism, even in such a liberal institution. Baquet, who first joined the Times in 1990, recognised the danger and says he “sought out senior women at the Times” to give his side of the story. “Other than the symbolism, it wasn’t a big issue for them.” |
| While Abramson’s departure in May last year was a big issue for many, Baquet is clearly popular. Mark Thompson, the Times’s chief executive, says he has a “fantastic human touch”; the New Yorker’s Ken Auletta calls him “a good listener, a hugger”; and digital journalism professor Emily Bell says simply, “people love him”. | While Abramson’s departure in May last year was a big issue for many, Baquet is clearly popular. Mark Thompson, the Times’s chief executive, says he has a “fantastic human touch”; the New Yorker’s Ken Auletta calls him “a good listener, a hugger”; and digital journalism professor Emily Bell says simply, “people love him”. |
| A Pulitzer prize-winner, Baquet has been described as a “reporter’s editor” and resigned as editor of the LA Times in 2006 in response to swingeing job cuts. Yet in his first year in charge at the NYT he had to cut 100 roles. He says the Times employs the same number of journalists as in 2000 – some 1,300 – and plans to maintain the headcount. | A Pulitzer prize-winner, Baquet has been described as a “reporter’s editor” and resigned as editor of the LA Times in 2006 in response to swingeing job cuts. Yet in his first year in charge at the NYT he had to cut 100 roles. He says the Times employs the same number of journalists as in 2000 – some 1,300 – and plans to maintain the headcount. |
| “Any editor who says he’s never going to have a cut again is off his or her rocker,” he says, “but I hope in a year’s time we have a big, robust, powerful newsroom ... My goal is to keep the number of reporters really high at the New York Times. It makes sense to have as many boots on the ground, to use a military expression, as possible.” | “Any editor who says he’s never going to have a cut again is off his or her rocker,” he says, “but I hope in a year’s time we have a big, robust, powerful newsroom ... My goal is to keep the number of reporters really high at the New York Times. It makes sense to have as many boots on the ground, to use a military expression, as possible.” |
| Last week, the Times announced plans to double its digital revenues from $400m to $800m by 2020, believing younger users and international growth are the path to expansion. International digital subscribers make up just 13% of the total, lower than its main rivals. The newspaper only started publishing nationally at the turn of the century. “I think the same sensibilities that make people in New Orleans want to read the Times exist in Tokyo, London, Jakarta - we just gotta show it to them.” | Last week, the Times announced plans to double its digital revenues from $400m to $800m by 2020, believing younger users and international growth are the path to expansion. International digital subscribers make up just 13% of the total, lower than its main rivals. The newspaper only started publishing nationally at the turn of the century. “I think the same sensibilities that make people in New Orleans want to read the Times exist in Tokyo, London, Jakarta - we just gotta show it to them.” |
| Such confidence in the beleaguered news business is rare. Digital-only subscriptions may have passed 1m for the first time, but digital revenues contribute roughly one quarter of the company total. And, while the predicted growth rate is impressive, it is not expected to match declines in print circulation and advertising. Operating profits fell to $91.9m in 2014 from $156.1m, partly due to severance payments. | Such confidence in the beleaguered news business is rare. Digital-only subscriptions may have passed 1m for the first time, but digital revenues contribute roughly one quarter of the company total. And, while the predicted growth rate is impressive, it is not expected to match declines in print circulation and advertising. Operating profits fell to $91.9m in 2014 from $156.1m, partly due to severance payments. |
| Still, the Times is quick to point out that $400m from digital subscribers and advertising trumps the revenues of the Huffington Post, BuzzFeed, Vox Media and Gawker Media combined. When asked about Axel Springer’s purchase of Business Insider for $343m in September, which valued the fledgling media company higher than the Washington Post, Baquet practically scoffs at its $50m a year in revenues. | |
| Traditional news organisations should promote the value of their extra reporting power, Baquet believes, and not be “shy at beating our chests … You can advertise and strategise all you want, but great news organisations succeed if they stick to the mission and break big stories.” | |
| Baquet’s digital prowess is sometimes questioned. Vivian Schiller, the media consultant who worked at the Times, is a big fan but adds: “Digital is not his strong suit, but he knows what he doesn’t know.” It was Abramson’s desire to appoint someone with digital expertise that led to the row with Baquet in the first place. Her attempt to hire Janine Gibson, then a senior editor at the Guardian, now the editor-in-chief of BuzzFeed UK, as a co-managing editor alongside him led to the falling-out. | Baquet’s digital prowess is sometimes questioned. Vivian Schiller, the media consultant who worked at the Times, is a big fan but adds: “Digital is not his strong suit, but he knows what he doesn’t know.” It was Abramson’s desire to appoint someone with digital expertise that led to the row with Baquet in the first place. Her attempt to hire Janine Gibson, then a senior editor at the Guardian, now the editor-in-chief of BuzzFeed UK, as a co-managing editor alongside him led to the falling-out. |
| Baquet insists he had no objection to the appointment itself. “She [Abramson] told me she was interested in having another managing editor for digital which, by the way, I supported. That didn’t bother me and she was right to want to fill that job.” So why was he so angry after going for lunch with Gibson to discuss the job? “I was surprised she [Abramson] had actually offered the job without telling me. That’s what upset me. It was something Jill and I should have talked about in great depth and we did not.” | Baquet insists he had no objection to the appointment itself. “She [Abramson] told me she was interested in having another managing editor for digital which, by the way, I supported. That didn’t bother me and she was right to want to fill that job.” So why was he so angry after going for lunch with Gibson to discuss the job? “I was surprised she [Abramson] had actually offered the job without telling me. That’s what upset me. It was something Jill and I should have talked about in great depth and we did not.” |
| He sounds genuinely contrite that, having lost his temper over an earlier decision not to run a story on the front page, he again punched the wall. “I did get really mad when Jill and I had a disagreement. The managing editor should not lose his temper.” | |
| During the furore it emerged that Abramson believed she was paid less than her predecessors. The allegation contributed to fears the Times was operating double standards. I ask Baquet if he earns more than she did. “I have no idea,” he laughs. | During the furore it emerged that Abramson believed she was paid less than her predecessors. The allegation contributed to fears the Times was operating double standards. I ask Baquet if he earns more than she did. “I have no idea,” he laughs. |
| There has been a rapprochement of sorts. A month after his appointment, Baquet had a malignant tumour removed and Abramson sent a note. “Jill was ... is ... a terrific journalist and it’s too bad the episode that caused our getting mad at each other has been the focus.” He insists, less than convincingly, that their relationship had been “good”. | There has been a rapprochement of sorts. A month after his appointment, Baquet had a malignant tumour removed and Abramson sent a note. “Jill was ... is ... a terrific journalist and it’s too bad the episode that caused our getting mad at each other has been the focus.” He insists, less than convincingly, that their relationship had been “good”. |
| If his predecessor was an “important symbolic appointment” as first female editor, Baquet is similarly so. Yet, earlier this year, at the height of the Black Lives Matter campaign, he axed the Times’s dedicated race reporter, Tanzina Vega. The move even prompted Margaret Sullivan, the NYT’s public editor, to voice concerns. Baquet says these are misguided; he has replaced one reporter with a “team” of three or four co-ordinated by a dedicated editor, Marc Lacey. With a predominantly white workforce, however, Baquet admits that he is “not satisfied where we are with diversity”. | If his predecessor was an “important symbolic appointment” as first female editor, Baquet is similarly so. Yet, earlier this year, at the height of the Black Lives Matter campaign, he axed the Times’s dedicated race reporter, Tanzina Vega. The move even prompted Margaret Sullivan, the NYT’s public editor, to voice concerns. Baquet says these are misguided; he has replaced one reporter with a “team” of three or four co-ordinated by a dedicated editor, Marc Lacey. With a predominantly white workforce, however, Baquet admits that he is “not satisfied where we are with diversity”. |
| With a focus on big stories since he became editor – the exposé of Amazon’s working practices, an investigation into New York prisons – he is sanguine about the threat from online competition. This summer, the Times announced partnerships with tech companies such as Apple and Facebook, which he describes as a “place where we can show our wares”. | With a focus on big stories since he became editor – the exposé of Amazon’s working practices, an investigation into New York prisons – he is sanguine about the threat from online competition. This summer, the Times announced partnerships with tech companies such as Apple and Facebook, which he describes as a “place where we can show our wares”. |
| “I will worry,” he says of digital rivals, “when they can make the commitment to keep Afghanistan staffed, to throw every available journalist at the Volkswagen scandal and to go all out to cover the ebola crisis. And I’m not seeing anybody do that, other than traditional big players.” | “I will worry,” he says of digital rivals, “when they can make the commitment to keep Afghanistan staffed, to throw every available journalist at the Volkswagen scandal and to go all out to cover the ebola crisis. And I’m not seeing anybody do that, other than traditional big players.” |
| Curriculum vitae | Curriculum vitae |
| Age 59 | Age 59 |
| Education St Augustine High School, New Orleans; Columbia University | Education St Augustine High School, New Orleans; Columbia University |
| 1978 reporter, Times Picayune, New Orleans 1984 reporter, Chicago Tribune 1988 Pulitzer prize for corruption scoop 1990 reporter, later special projects, New York Times 1995 national editor, NYT 2000 managing editor, LA Times | 1978 reporter, Times Picayune, New Orleans 1984 reporter, Chicago Tribune 1988 Pulitzer prize for corruption scoop 1990 reporter, later special projects, New York Times 1995 national editor, NYT 2000 managing editor, LA Times |
| 2005 editor, LA Times 2006 forced to quit after publicly opposing job cuts 2007 rejoins NYT as Washington bureau chief 2011 managing editor, NYT 2014 succeeds Jill Abramson as editor | 2005 editor, LA Times 2006 forced to quit after publicly opposing job cuts 2007 rejoins NYT as Washington bureau chief 2011 managing editor, NYT 2014 succeeds Jill Abramson as editor |