Carolyn Ryan named assistant editor at The New York Times

Carolyn Ryan, The New York Times’ senior politics editor, is getting a promotion.

Ryan, who ran The Times’ coverage of the presidential campaign, will join the Times’ masthead as an assistant editor in charge of recruitment, according to a memo from Executive Editor Dean Baquet and Managing Editor Joe Kahn.

“Carolyn’s primary responsibility will be to recruit investigative reporters, narrative writers, beat reporters, editors and visual journalists who will help The Times remain the dominant source of journalism of all types,” they wrote.

The New York Times recently announced a massive overhaul of its newsroom focused on bolstering revenue from digital subscribers. Much of Ryan’s new job appears focused on staffing the newsroom outlined in the 2020 Report, which is a roadmap for The Times’ future.

“We’ve said in the past that we will be hiring dozens of journalists in the next couple of years, even as we cut the overall size of the newsroom to deal with the reality of our industry’s changing financial situation,” Baquet and Kahn wrote. “Given the competition for great journalists and the talent we will need to maintain a powerful, diverse and innovative newsroom, each hire now takes on increasing importance.”

Here’s the memo:

We are thrilled to announce that Carolyn Ryan, who ran our powerful and innovative coverage of the presidential campaign, will be joining the masthead and the senior management team as an Assistant Editor.

Carolyn’s primary responsibility will be to recruit investigative reporters, narrative writers, beat reporters, editors and visual journalists who will help The Times remain the dominant source of journalism of all types. In essence, she will play a key role in building the newsroom of the future.

We’ve said in the past that we will be hiring dozens of journalists in the next couple of years, even as we cut the overall size of the newsroom to deal with the reality of our industry’s changing financial situation. Given the competition for great journalists and the talent we will need to maintain a powerful, diverse and innovative newsroom, each hire now takes on increasing importance.

Carolyn is the perfect editor to take on this new role. She has driven some of our most important and high-impact coverage. Besides the presidential election, Carolyn ran coverage of the New York City mayoral election and the downfall of a New York governor. She has a knack for spotting talent, and nurturing young journalists. She has run the metro desk and the Washington bureau.

As a senior leader, she will take on additional projects besides recruiting. We’ve asked her to think about ways to cover the phenomenon of fake news, for example, and there is no doubt she will play a role in different coverage going forward.

In her new job, Carolyn will report directly to us. She, along with Matt, Janet, Cliff, Rebecca Blumenstein and Steve Duenes, will be part of the team that decides how the newsroom should be reshaped and which hires get first priority. Carolyn will also work closely with the company’s Talent and Inclusion department.

Dean and Joe

.@carolynryan, who steered City Hall coverage through 2013 and oversaw team that toppled Spitzer, to join NYT masthead

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) February 16, 2017

Extraordinary @carolynryan joins the NYT masthead today, building the newsroom of the future as head of recruitment. And we’re hiring!

— Michael Barbaro (@mikiebarb) February 16, 2017