Editor out over mystery woes
Metro boss quits, apologizes for ‘mistakes’
NEW YORK Times Metro Eeditor Wendell Jamieson resigned Monday after an “investigation,” according to an internal memo.
In an email to staff, Executive Editor Dean Baquet and Managing Editor Joseph Kahn said Susan Chira will act as interim metro editor effective immediately.
Chira is the senior correspondent and editor on gender issues, according to her Twitter bio.
The memo included a statement from Jamieson.
“Leading Metro for the last five years and working with the incredible Times team has been the high point of my professional life,” he said in the statement.
“I regret and apologize for my mistakes and leaving under these circumstances. I’m especially proud of all the talent I’ve helped bring to The Times. Susan Chira is a wonderful editor, a true New Yorker, and I know Metro will rise to even greater heights under her leadership.”
The email said no further comment will be made to “protect the privacy of those involved.”
Jamieson’s Twitter account was no longer active after the announcement.
The reason for Jamieson’s departure was not disclosed.
The cryptic memo generated speculation inside the newsroom and throughout the news industry over what prompted the investigation.
The secrecy surrounding Jamieson’s departure also prompted criticism of a news outlet that has covered a variety of workplace issues, including the #MeToo sexual harassment phenomenon.
The Times won a Pulitzer Prize last month for its coverage of sexual harassment and beyond, and the downfall of accused rapist and former movie mogul Harvey Weinstein.
Chira, 59, was part of the team that won the coveted prize.
She has also served as The Times’ deputy executive editor, foreign editor and Tokyo correspondent, and as a reporter on the national, business and metro desks, The Times said.
Jamieson, 51, joined The Times in 2000. He was named metro editor in 2013.
He has also worked at the Daily News, Newsday and the New York Post. Jamieson, who grew up in Park Slope, Brooklyn, is married with two children.
Last year, The Times suspended a prominent political reporter, Glenn Thrush, after allegations of inappropriate behavior with several women journalists appeared on the website Vox.
Thrush returned a month later, but he was moved from the team covering the White House.
Jamieson is the author of a book about his family, “Father Knows Less.”