New York Times completes ‘innovation report’ led by Sulzberger scion

[hrmjustin]

Joe Pompeo

Back in July, New York Times executive editor Jill Abramson announced that Arthur Gregg Sulzberger, a metro reporter and the son of Times chairman and publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr., would "take a leave from metro to be the editor in charge of a new ideas task force, which will function as the newsroom’s version of a skunk-works team, a creative team that will think up and propose new ways to expand our news offerings digitally."

The fruits of that exercise were revealed today with the internal release of an "innovation report" by Sulzberger and his crew. It calls for the creation of new teams focused on audience development, analytics and strategy, as well as newsroom collaboration with "reader-focused departments on the business side" and prioritizing "digital hiring to help the digital-first transition."

"The report concludes that the masthead needs to make further structural changes in the newsroom to achieve a digital first reality, including having a senior editor focused on audience development, another group focused on analytics and an advisory strategic arm," Abramson and managing editor Dean Baquet wrote in a memo to staff.

"We have always wanted the hallmark of our time to be leading our transition to a digital first newsroom. We are tantalizingly close, but as this report points out, there are urgent challenges still facing us."

http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/media/2014/05/8545059/emnew-york-timesem-completes-innovation-report-led-sulzberger-scion?top-featured-1

[hrmjustin]

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