Raines, Boyd Resign at 'NY Times'

By: Richard Brunelli Updated at 8:35 p.m. Eastern Standard Time

New York Times Executive Editor Howell Raines and Managing Editor Gerald Boyd resigned Thursday in the aftermath of an internal scandal involving former Times reporter Jayson Blair, who resigned May 1.

Joseph Lelyveld, former executive editor of the Times, has been named interim executive editor. No one will be named interim managing editor.

"This is a day that breaks my heart," Times Publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. told staffers at a Thursday morning newsroom meeting.

"Howell and Gerald have tendered their resignations, and I have accepted them with sadness based on what we believe is best for the Times," said Sulzberger, who also serves as chairman of The New York Times Co.

Raines, 60, became executive editor of the Times in 2001, after having served as editorial page editor of the newspaper since 1993. Boyd, 52, was named managing editor of the Times in 2001, after having served as deputy managing editor for news since 1997.

Contacted by E&P Online on Thursday afternoon, Boyd declined to comment on his resignation, saying only, "I'm trying to spend time with my wife and my son. That's what I'm trying to focus on now."

Though a statement from the newspaper did not mention the Blair controversy, both Raines and Boyd have come under increasing pressure -- both internally and externally -- since the Blair problem surfaced in May, which the Times had called "a low point" in its 152-year history.

The two top editors had been the focus of much of the criticism following the scandal, especially for allowing Blair to cover the Washington-area sniper case when the metropolitan editor had previously raised concerns about the reporter's mistakes.

Separately, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Rick Bragg resigned from the Times on May 28 after the newspaper suspended him over a story that carried his byline but was reported largely by a freelancer.

"While the past few weeks have been difficult, we remain steadfast in our commitment to our employees, our readers, and our advertisers to produce the best newspaper we can by adhering to the highest standards of integrity and journalism," Sulzberger said.

Lelyveld, 66, retired in 2001, after having served as executive editor for seven years. During his tenure, the Times won 12 Pulitzer Prizes, introduced color to its pages, added new sections, and expanded its national circulation.

Raines became executive editor just days before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The following April, the Times received a record seven Pulitzer Prizes -- five for its coverage of the terrorist attacks and another for coverage of the war in Afghanistan.

"They have made enormous contributions during their tenure," Sulzberger said of Raines and Boyd, "including an extraordinary seven Pulitzer Prizes in 2002 and another this year. I appreciate all of their efforts in continuing the legacy of our great newspaper."

Raines had been editor of the editorial page for eight years and previously headed the newspaper's bureaus in Washington and London when he was named executive editor to replace the retiring Lelyveld.

He won a Pulitzer Prize for feature writing in 1992 for a memoir he wrote for The New York Times Magazine about his childhood friendship in Alabama with his family's black housekeeper.

Boyd, 52, was named managing editor in 2001. He had been deputy managing editor for news from 1997 to 2001, and assistant managing editor from 1993 until 1997. He joined the newspaper in 1983.

Raines and Boyd each made statements during a Thursday morning meeting with the staff, drawing prolonged applause from the staff members, some of whom were in tears.

Boyd spoke of his commitment to diversity and was briefly interrupted by applause. Retired Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger Sr. -- father of the current publisher -- also attended the meeting, standing silently throughout.

"Everybody is upset about what happened," said Dee Wedemeyer, an editor.

According to the Times Web site, Raines told his former staffers: "Remember, when a great story breaks out, go like hell."

Minutes after the meeting, he left the building.

The editors quit more than a month after Blair resigned from the newspaper, later telling the New York Observer that he "fooled some of the most brilliant people in journalism" with his reporting.

An initial investigation found fraud, plagiarism, and inaccuracies in 36 of 73 articles Blair wrote between October and April. The Times detailed the fraud over four full pages in its May 11 edition, but the controversy has still not quelled.

"As sad as it is, what happened today is like lancing a boil," said Susan Tifft, a former associate editor at Time magazine and co-author of The Trust: The Private and Powerful Family Behind the New York Times. "You've got to have leadership that the newsroom can get behind. Joe Lelyveld can do that with great ease."

Spokeswoman Catherine Mathis said the search for new editors would take place "both inside the Times and outside."

"I hope things settle down and we get a decent executive editor who's reasonable," said Jerelle Kraus, art director for the newspaper's weekend section. "Howell Raines is someone who is feared."

Attempts by The Associated Press to reach Blair on Thursday were unsuccessful; his cell phone had been disconnected. He told WCBS-TV in New York that he was "sorry for his actions and what they've done.

"I was in a cycle of self-destruction that I never intended, and I never intended for it to hurt anyone else, and the pain that it's caused my colleagues -- the great and wonderful journalists at the Times -- I'm sorry," Blair told the TV station.