Yee-haw! Months overdue, the New York Times has finally corralled an editor for its Sunday Magazine — Texas Monthly Editor-in-Chief Jake Silverstein.
Executive Editor Jill Abramson announced the appointment at a Friday 3 p.m. meeting of magazine staffers, filling the post that had been vacant for four-and-a-half months.
Silverstein’s Texas Monthly was nominated for a single National Magazine Award earlier this week for an article, “The 50 Best BBQ Joints in the World!”
The NYT magazine had three — for reporting, feature writing and multimedia.
While the NYT magazine in the past was viewed as a separate fiefdom, Abramson suggested that the magazine will be more closely involved with goings-on in the newsroom — which some took to mean more direct input from Abramson.
“Jake’s appointment signals a rethinking of the magazine,” said a memo from Abramson and Managing Editor Dean Baquet announcing the move. “It will be more fully integrated in the newsroom and will play a significant role in the big news stories of the day.”
Silverstein succeeds Hugo Lindgren, an editor who was put in the job in 2010 by Bill Keller, Abramson’s predecessor.
Lindgren was said to have clashed with Abramson almost from the moment she was appointed in 2011, but he did not get the heave-ho until last November.
Capital New York first reported that Silverstein would get the job.