Arthur Gregg Sulzberger, the 36-year-old deputy publisher of The New York Times, is one step closer to taking over the paper his family has owned since the late 19th century.
The Times announced Monday that A.G. Sulzberger will take over the paper's opinion section from Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr., his father and the paper's publisher. Historically, both the news and opinion divisions have reported to the publisher.
"As he did in the newsroom, I expect A.G. to safeguard Times values and standards even as he presses for new voices and new forms of opinion journalism that will help us deepen relationships with our loyal readers and form relationships with new readers," the elder Sulzberger wrote in a memo to staff. "Doing this work means asking hard questions about the old ways of doing things and taking some risks with new ways."
Sulzberger takes over the opinion page as it is expanding under new editor James Bennet. A former Times reporter and editor-in-chief at The Atlantic, Bennet has taken steps to expand the Times' op-ed section. Last month, he hired Bret Stephens, a conservative columnist and former deputy editorial page editor at The Wall Street Journal.
The elder Sulzberger wrote that A.G. was "eager to support the efforts begun by James, Jim Dao and the rest of the team to diversify and digitize our Opinion report and continually raise its ambitions for informing the national and global conversation."
Still, overseeing the opinion section is only a stepping stone for the younger Sulzberger on his path to perhaps one day replacing his father as publisher. A.G. Sulzberger has previously served as the paper's Kansas City bureau chief, as a masthead editor, and as the head of its internal innovation effort. He was named deputy publisher in October.
Other Sulzberger family members from this generation have been discussed as potential candidates for the publisher job, including Sam Dolnick, who is now a masthead editor after having overseen the Times' virtual reality initiative, among other projects; and David Perpich, who works on the paper's business side.
