Dean Baquet facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Dean Baquet
|
|
|---|---|
Baquet in 2018
|
|
| Born | September 21, 1956 New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
|
| Education | Columbia University (did not graduate) |
| Occupation | Journalist; Editor |
|
Notable credit(s)
|
The New York Times; Los Angeles Times; Chicago Tribune |
| Spouse(s) |
Dylan Landis
(m. 1986) |
| Children | 1 |
| Parent(s) |
|
Dean P. Baquet (born September 21, 1956) is an American journalist. He was the top editor, called the executive editor, of The New York Times from May 2014 to June 2022. Before that, from 2011 to 2014, Baquet was the managing editor. He was the first Black person to lead the newsroom at The New York Times.
Dean Baquet grew up in New Orleans. He started his journalism career there in the 1970s. Later, he worked at the Chicago Tribune in the 1980s. He joined The New York Times in 1990. In 2000, he became a top editor at the Los Angeles Times. He returned to The New York Times in 2007.
In 1988, Baquet won a Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Journalism. He led a team of reporters at the Chicago Tribune. They reported on problems and waste in the Chicago City Council.
Contents
About Dean Baquet
Early Life and Education
Dean Baquet grew up in Tremé, a working-class neighborhood in New Orleans, Louisiana. His family was Catholic. He is the fourth of five sons of Edward Baquet, who owned restaurants in New Orleans.
Baquet finished St. Augustine High School in 1974. He received a scholarship to study English at Columbia University. However, he left college before graduating to become a journalist.
He worked in New Orleans for almost ten years before moving to the Chicago Tribune.
His Career in Journalism
Baquet began his journalism career at the New Orleans States-Item. This newspaper later joined with The Times-Picayune. After six years there, he joined the Chicago Tribune in 1984. While at the Tribune, he won the Pulitzer Prize.
In April 1990, he joined The New York Times. He started as a reporter who looked into important stories. He became the national editor in 1996.
In 2000, he moved to the Los Angeles Times as managing editor. He became the main editor there in 2005. He was the first Black person to be the top editor of that newspaper. Baquet left the Los Angeles Times in 2006. This happened after he disagreed with plans to cut jobs in the newsroom.
Two months later, Baquet rejoined The New York Times. He became the head of their Washington office. In September 2011, he became managing editor. On May 14, 2014, he was promoted to executive editor. Baquet worked hard to hire more reporters and editors of color. He said his efforts to make the newsroom more diverse were "intense and persistent."
Baquet has spoken out against attacks on journalists. He said that personal attacks on journalists can put their lives at risk. In April 2022, The New York Times announced that Baquet would no longer be executive editor. He was replaced by Joseph Kahn. Baquet stayed at the paper to lead a new program. This program helps train young journalists in local investigative reporting.
Important Stories He Covered
Dean Baquet won the Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting in 1988. He led a six-month investigation with other reporters at the Chicago Tribune. They uncovered problems and how people used their power unfairly in the Chicago City Council.
From 1990 to 1995, he reported on different cases of corruption and illegal money activities.
As managing editor at the Los Angeles Times, Baquet helped decide to publish a story about a political candidate. This story came out a few days before an election in 2003. It included claims by women in the movie industry about the candidate.
In 2006, Baquet was involved in a decision not to publish a story about government surveillance. He said he and another editor decided not to run the story because they did not have enough clear information. He stated that government pressure did not influence his decision.
After the 2016 U.S. presidential election, Baquet explained that some news outlets did not understand the role of religion in people's lives. He said they could do much better to understand the country.
In 2019, The New York Times published a headline about a speech by U.S. President Donald Trump. Baquet called it a "bad headline" but defended the newspaper's overall coverage. The next month, The New York Times published some personal details about a person involved in a government inquiry. Baquet defended this decision.
Personal Life
In September 1986, Dean Baquet married writer Dylan Landis. They live in Greenwich Village. He is Catholic.
Awards and Honors
In 1988, Baquet won the Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting. He also received the Peter Lisagor Award for investigative reporting.
He received an honorary degree from Loyola University New Orleans in 2013. In 2018, he received the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press Freedom of the Press Award.
In 2019, Baquet received the Larry Foster Award for Integrity in Public Communication. He also received the Norman C. Francis Leadership Institute National Leadership Award for Excellence. The Hollywood Reporter named him one of the "35 most powerful people in New York media." He received an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Xavier University of Louisiana in 2020.
In 2022, Syracuse University honored Baquet with the Fred Dressler Leadership Award.
See also
- New Yorkers in journalism
- The New York Times controversies
- She Said (film)
