PUBLISHER OF THE YEAR

By: Staff reports E&P Editorial for May 8, 2000



A publisher whose numbers are strong but whose product is not is nothing more than a
good accountant



For the first time in its 116-year history, Editor & Publisher in this issue names a
'Publisher of the Year.' Why now, after all these years? There are several reasons, but
perhaps the most salient is that the newspaper industry needs examples of excellence in
management with which it may make comparisons.



In the days of family-owned newspapers and closely held chains, publishers marched to
their own beat; as owners, they did what they wanted, and they were usually rich and
powerful enough to get away with it. There were many more of them, so for each scalawag
there was a publisher who was truly committed to public service.



At the beginning of the 21st century, a newspaper publisher is most often an employee who
is faced with the seemingly incompatible missions of service to the public and making a
profit for a corporation and its shareholders. Good business people do not necessarily
make good newspaper publishers (see Los Angeles Times). A publisher whose numbers are
strong but whose product is not is nothing more than a good accountant. And a publisher
whose product is excellent but whose numbers are off will not be a publisher for very long.



Arthur O. Sulzberger Jr., our first 'Publisher of the Year,' certainly had the benefit of
every advantage that comes with membership in one of the foremost newspaper families in the
world. In the nearly 10 years since he became publisher of The New York Times, he easily
could have managed to maximize profit and enrich both the family and the shareholders.
Instead, he has revamped the organization, flattened the management structure, diversified
the staff, moved boldly into digital media and made the Times more accessible to a wider range
of people other than white, upper-crust New Yorkers. The results are impressive - circulation
up, ad linage up, profits at record levels, all in an environment of quality journalism and
commitment to public service. That is what a newspaper publisher does.