Gail CollinsPhoto: Courtesy The New York Times
Huh. If you’d told us someone in a prominent position at the Times was about to leave it, this so wouldn’t have been the one we’d have guessed: Gail Collins is stepping down as editorial-page editor. She’ll be replaced by Andrew Rosenthal, former foreign editor, onetime loyal Howell Raines sidekick, and perpetually Abe’s son.
(Oh, and don’t worry: She’ll be back soon enough, returning to her old op-ed column next July.)
Andrew Rosenthal Named Editorial Page Editor of The New York Times [NYTCo.]
The United States of America vs. Bill Keller [NYM]
Andrew Rosenthal Named Editorial Page Editor of The New York Times
NEW YORK – (BUSINESS WIRE) – Oct. 12, 2006 – Andrew Rosenthal, deputy editorial page editor, has been named editorial page editor, effective January 1. He will succeed Gail Collins, who plans to take a leave of absence to complete a sequel to her 2003 book “America’s Women” and will then return to writing an Op-Ed column next July.
“Under Gail’s direction, The Times’s editorial page has grown in its journalistic scope and its physical scale,” said Arthur Sulzberger, Jr., publisher of The Times and chairman of The New York Times Company. “She has seen us through the horror of 9/11, wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and a time of great political turmoil. Her lasting legacy will be the expansion of the Sunday editorial pages from two to three, her supervision in the creation of Times Select and the development of editorial pages for each of our Sunday regional sections. As much as I will miss her leadership, I’m thrilled she will be returning to our Op-Ed pages as a columnist. We have missed her voice there.
“When Andy moved from the newsroom to his position as deputy editorial page editor three years ago,” Mr. Sulzberger continued, “we did not know the degree to which he was a born editorial writer. He has penned some of the most powerful and insightful editorials that have run on our pages. With his depth of journalistic experiences - from Moscow bureau chief for the Associated Press to Washington correspondent and foreign editor for The Times - Andy has an expansive vision of our world and the issues we confront. His extraordinary understanding of both print and online journalism will serve us well as we expand our offerings across media.”
Mr. Rosenthal, 50, was named deputy editorial page editor of The New York Times in 2003 after having served as assistant managing editor, foreign editor and national editor of The Times. Previously he served as The Times’s Washington editor and as a Washington correspondent since joining the Company in 1987.
Before coming to The Times, Mr. Rosenthal worked at the Associated Press, where he was its Moscow bureau chief. His other assignments with the AP included correspondent in Moscow, editor on the foreign desk in New York and reporter in the Denver bureau.
Mr. Rosenthal graduated from the University of Denver with a B.A. degree in American history in 1978. While at college, Mr. Rosenthal was a sports stringer for the AP and a part-time police reporter for The Rocky Mountain News.
Ms. Collins, 60, became editorial page editor of The New York Times in 2001. Previously she had been a columnist for The Times and a member of the paper’s editorial board.
Before joining The Times in 1995, she was a columnist at New York Newsday from 1991 until 1995 and the New York Daily News from 1985 until 1991. She was also a reporter for United Press International.
Ms. Collins has a B.A. degree in journalism from Marquette University and an M.A. degree in government from the University of Massachusetts. She is the author of three books: “America’s Women, 400 Years of Dolls, Drudges, Helpmates and Heroines” (Morrow, 2003), “Scorpion Tongues” (Morrow, 1998) and “The Millennium Book” (Doubleday, 1991) which she co-authored with her husband, Dan Collins. She is currently working on a book about American women since 1960.
Photos of Ms. Collins and Mr. Rosenthal are available at: http://nytco.com/press-photos.html.
