Firing Jill Abramson: What’s Good for the Goose is Not Good for the Gander?

In 2014, The New York Times (NYT) made it to the headlines when it won two Pulitzer Prizes in categories of Breaking News Photography and Feature Photography. But the newspaper also came into the news that year for a more controversial reason. It brought in some big changes in the higher positions of management, firing Jill Abramson (Abramson), its executive editor who had served the paper since 1997, and replacing her with the managing editor, Dean Baquet. The controversial decision attracted a lot of media attention.

The New York Times was built on the principles of truth and integrity, but, with accusations of gender disparity coming in from certain quarters, these principles came into question. Eyebrows were raised when the publisher of the company, Arthur Sulzberger Jr., decided to fire such a high ranking employee without giving the exact reasons for his action. Journalists, reporters, analysts, and industry insiders across the globe began questioning the transparency of the organization. The high profile exit also raised concerns on issues related to women at the workplace and in leadership positions.