NY Times announces two new moves in its culture section

The New York Times sent out the following announcement:

Michael Cooper is being promoted to our deputy editor in charge of news coverage and Nicole Herrington will be taking over as theater editor.

For the past six months, Michael, who has been our classical music and dance reporter since 2013, has helped reinvent Times journalism by working on the live briefings covering the pandemic and the election. His experience on the briefings, which emphasize speed and collaboration, as well as his expertise in all things culture, made him an undeniable choice for our news deputy.

He has aggressively covered the world of classical music, and we will continue to do so following his move.

Michael got his start at The Times while a freshman at Columbia University, as a night copy boy. He was previously a national correspondent, as well as a political reporter. Appropriately for someone born and raised in New York City, he got his true education on the Metro desk, where he worked over the years at the press room in police headquarters, where he wrote the first Amadou Diallo article; Room 9, where City Hall reporters are stationed; and at the Capitol in Albany, where he served as bureau chief. Michael also covered the Sept. 11 attacks as well as the 2000 presidential election (and its overtime rounds).

We’re also thrilled that Nicole will be moving into a new role as theater editor. A University of Rhode Island graduate, Nicole came to The Times in 2005 from The Miami Herald and joined Culture two years later. Since September 2017, Nicole has helmed our print Weekend section, which she has distinguished through an emphasis on New York City-based service as well as inventive annual pieces like our Labor Day feature on behind-the-scenes culture workers.

In addition to her week-to-week work, Nicole has participated in some of our most ambitious cultural journalism. In March, right as the pandemic forced us to begin to work from home, we published a project that she had been leading for over a year — “The African-American Art Shaping the 21st Century,” in which 35 artists made the case for which Black-created works had been the most important, influential and inspiring for them. Alongside our stellar theater reporter, she spoke with four major young Black playwrights about how their works were challenging the American theater scene.

Michael will take the baton from Kevin Flynn, who has been a rock for us all while running Culture news coverage, following the election. And Nicole will fully take over her job next spring, when she returns from parental leave.

Please join us in congratulating them both.