The New York Times appoints two new editors for Standards: Mick Sussman and Tom Kaplan

Mick Sussman

We’re very happy to share the news that Mick Sussman and Tom Kaplan will be joining the Standards team.

Mick is taking on the expanded role of headlines coach, where his mission is to be a force for display type across the newsroom, through evangelizing, training, and day-to-day wisdom and ideas.

Mick is perfectly suited to the job, having spent nearly 20 years working on the home page. In that time he has formed strong relationships with every newsroom desk, and helped reporters and editors see just how important headlines are to the reach and success of our journalism.

“When I started on the home page in 2006, it was a scrappy D.I.Y. effort,” Mick says. “It’s been a privilege to have had a part in building it into a sophisticated operation, and the centerpiece of our news report.”

Karron Skog describes Mick as the bedrock of the home page team. “Not only has he helped guide the evolution of our website, but he has also been a mentor (and informal headline coach) to dozens of editors along the way. It’s hard to imagine this operation without him, so I’m relieved he’s not going far.”

Mick is ready for this new focus. In his rough estimate, he’s written over 10,000 headlines in his career, and thinks he has at least another 10,000 left in the tank.

Mick started at The Times in 1997, when he was hired as a customer service representative for “The New York Times on the Web.” He was the Books digital editor for many years and the founding producer of the “Book Review” podcast.

Tom Kaplan

Tom brings a particularly timely set of skills and experience to the team: He has been covering politics and government, as both a reporter and editor, since he started at The Times in 2010.

Most recently he was the domestic policy editor in the Washington bureau, where he managed a team of reporters and oversaw coverage of health care, the federal pandemic response and transportation. He shepherded stories on subjects like Covid misinformation, “red flag” gun laws, the opioid crisis and Boeing’s safety troubles.

Tom started out as a reporter in the Albany bureau, where he covered Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and the State Legislature. He moved to the Politics desk to report on the 2016 presidential campaign, logging thousands of miles on the campaign trail, and then he headed to Washington to cover Congress. He returned to Politics for the 2020 presidential campaign.

“In Washington, Tom proved himself to be a thoughtful, collegial and careful editor,” Dick Stevenson says, “thinking through stories from multiple angles to ensure accuracy, fairness and clarity. We hate to lose him, but he’ll be a terrific addition to the Standards team.”

Tom graduated from Yale, where he received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in political science and was editor in chief of The Yale Daily News. While in college, he also worked as a stringer for The Times, writing for the Metro and Sports desks (where he says he was edited by an encouraging and exceedingly patient editor named Mike Abrams).

“I’ve been writing or editing for The Times for almost half my life, and every day I marvel about the breadth and brilliance of our report,” Tom says. “I’m thrilled to be joining Standards. I look forward to helping with its important work in support of independent journalism, and I’m excited for the chance to work with colleagues across the newsroom.”

Tom and his family are in the process of moving to New York. He has been getting acclimated to Standards behind the scenes for a few weeks, and he will be officially on the desk starting next week.

Please join us in congratulating Mick and Tom.