Jill Abramson
Jill Abramson
Jill Ellen Abramson is an American author and journalist best known as the former executive editor of The New York Times. Abramson held that position from September 2011 to May 2014. She was the first female executive editor in the paper's 160-year history. Abramson joined the New York Times in 1997, working as the Washington bureau chief and managing editor before being named as executive editor. She previously worked for The Wall Street Journal as an investigative reporter and a...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionEditor
Date of Birth19 March 1954
CountryUnited States of America
I have to pay attention to work on the weekends and always have my iPhone with me, but I don't mind.
I think a lot about something: Abe Rosenthal was once asked what he wanted on his headstone, and he said he wanted it just to say, 'He kept the paper straight.' And I think about that a lot.
I think about the question of perspective in reporting all the time, and since I spent 20 years of my career in Washington as both a reporter and an editor I'm keenly aware that a newspaper should not be dominated by stories in which the only voices and perspective come from those in power.
I think that a great newspaper is one that puts a real premium on digging to get the story behind the story.
We talked about this a lot during my half-hour visit with her. She is receiving a torrent of supporting mail, and the letters help sustain her as well. Times colleagues are begging to go, and there is a long waiting list.
With the fragmentation of television audiences and the advent of cable and on-demand services, the prestige of being an anchor is not what it was in the days of Walter Cronkite.
Her spirits seemed remarkably good, given the circumstances. I think what is keeping her going is that she believes she is serving a purpose, and that is the need for a federal shield law.
Her spirits seemed remarkably good, given the circumstances,
When we first started, we would message all the time, ... He would log on, and mostly we would just message back and forth at the beginning of the relationship. Now, we use the computer, phones, letters, airlines - everything.
Over the years, I’ve worried that my directness could come off as brusque or my criticisms heard in an outsize way, especially by male colleagues. I sometimes wondered whether expressing even my mildest reservation reminded someone of a chastising mother or complaining wife.
Women are damn resilient.
You know, a dog can snap you out of any kind of bad mood that you're in faster than you can think of.
The Obama administration has had seven criminal leak investigations. That is more than twice the number of any previous administration in our history. It's on a scale never seen before. This is the most secretive White House that, at least as a journalist, I have ever dealt with.
If The Times said it, it was the absolute truth.