HUFFINGTON
12.09.12
OUT AT THE TIMES
people — black,
female, gay, disabled —
are comfortable and can
succeed. Diversity of the
workplace is also important because we reach
a diverse audience.
I’m more interested in
how the coverage
is viewed, and it has
to be influenced by my
people who are gay.”
In mid January of this
year, 40-year-old Sulzberger became the fifth
publisher of The New York
Times since his greatgrandfather, Adolph S.
Ochs, bought the newspaper in 1896. Sulzberger
succeeded his father, Arthur Ochs “Punch” Sulzberger, when the elder
Sulzberger retired at age
65 after running the paper since 1963.
The younger Sulzberger has been described
in the media as “brash”
and even as an activist.
Currently, he serves on a
committee of the Newspaper Publishers Association aimed at combating racism and sexism in
the workplace. He made
sure that sexual orientation was part of the
program of a recent conference on diversity that
he held at The Times for
newspaper publishers
from around the country.
It was under Sulzberger’s supervision that
Gerald Boyd, an AfricanAmerican, was brought
in as metropolitan editor. “Boyd has a genuine
interest in the disenfranchised,” observes
a Times staffer. “When
Boyd was told about the
importance to the gay
community of the Julio Rivera murder trial
[in which the victim, a
Queens man, was gaybashed], he made sure
that it was given the
same prominence that
the Howard Beach racial
murder trial was given.”
And it was under
Sulzberger’s supervision that openly gay
and outspoken Adam
Moss, the former editor
of the now-defunct New
York weekly 7 Days, was
brought in under contract as a consultant at
The Times. While it is
unclear what future The
Times and Moss have
together, some say that
Moss, who has Lelyveld’s ear, has been very
vocal and has had an
effect on the newsroom
regarding gay issues.
Sulzberger has worked
in various departments
of the paper since 1978
and has gotten to know
much of the staff. About
seven years ago, he separately approached a
number of staff members
whom he knew to be gay.
Anticipating his eventual role as publisher, he
wanted to discuss the
problems they faced as
gay people at The Times.
“Actually, he took me
to lunch and asked, ‘So
when are you going to
tell me that you’re gay?’”
laughs Schmalz. “He was
genuinely interested in
what I had to say.”
Of course, first and
foremost, Sulzberger is a
businessman. He is said