Categories: OLD Media Moves

FT names new US managing editor

The Financial Times announced Monday Martin Dickson will become U.S. managing editor on Sept. 1, overseeing the FT’s print and online editions in North America.

He has been deputy editor of the paper since 2005, with particular responsibility for its global financial and business coverage.

The appointment marks Dickson’s return to the U.S., where he spent nearly five years in the early 1990s as New York bureau chief, leading the paper’s coverage of North American financial, management and business affairs. He has held senior positions on both the writing and editing sides of the paper, including creating the highly respected Lombard column of business comment in 2002.

His work has been recognized with numerous awards, including Business Journalist of the Year and Best Opinion Writer of the Year in the 2005 Business Journalist of the Year Awards and a prestigious Wincott Foundation award in 2006 as Senior Financial Journalist of the Year. He joined the FT in 1976.

Dickson takes over from Gillian Tett, who is going on a long-planned book leave on Sept. 1 and will return to a top management and comment role in early 2013. As an assistant editor, Tett will continue to write columns for the op-ed pages, magazine and newspaper.

Dickson’s move to New York underlines the importance the FT attaches to the U.S., and he will work closely with Tett to ensure a smooth handover in September.

In addition, Gary Silverman has been promoted to the new post of deputy U.S. managing editor. Silverman will continue to act as U.S. news editor responsible for coordinating U.S. coverage with the FT’s American bureaus and London.

FT Editor Lionel Barber commented in a statement: “I would like to pay tribute to Gillian for the superb job she has done in the US over the past two and a half years. The FT has won numerous prizes, provided cutting edge news and analysis during the global financial crisis and set up new forms of print and digital ventures, including the award-winning collaboration with ProPublica. Overall, the FT has further strengthened its position in this important market during her tenure.

“I would like to thank Martin for the critical role he has played in the FT’s success since 2005, when he became deputy editor. He has been an invaluable source of support and sound judgment, while stamping his authority on all areas of the newspaper.”