New York Times names new top editor

The New York Times has announced its next editorial leader.

Joe Kahn, a longtime editor at the newspaper and a Pulitzer Prize-winning China correspondent, will serve as the Times’s next executive editor, publisher A.G. Sulzberger announced on Tuesday.

“Joe brings impeccable news judgment, a sophisticated understanding of the forces shaping the world and a long track record of helping journalists produce their most ambitious and courageous work,” Sulzberger wrote in a memo to staff.

“We couldn’t ask for a better leader for our newsroom amid a historic convergence of events. And as one of the architects of our digital transformation, Joe’s vision will be crucial as we seek to become even more valuable to readers around the world.”

Kahn, 57, succeeds former editor Dean Baquet, who has led the outlet for the last eight years and will retire this summer. Kahn was widely viewed as the leading candidate to replace Baquet.

“Dean told me recently that he believed that Joe was more prepared than any editor he’s ever seen to take over a global newsroom that’s grown in size, complexity and ambition,” Sulzberger said. “The Times has a longstanding practice of editors leaving the masthead at 65, which Dean wanted to honor given his strong belief that Joe was more than ready to fill his shoes.”

In a statement, Kahn said he is “deeply humbled to lead a global newsroom of immensely talented journalists who provide original, on-the-ground, indispensable reporting about the most important news of our time. ”

“The New York Times will continue to play an essential role in producing and protecting independent journalism,” he said.

“Joe is planning to send a note later this week sharing some early details about his senior leadership team, which reflects the unbelievable depth of talent we’re lucky to have guiding our newsroom,” Sulzberger said in his memo to Times staffers. “One of the clearest signs of the health of a news organization is its ability to develop great editors and one of Dean’s great legacies is the caliber of leaders he’s groomed to steer the newsroom through its next chapter.”