NY Times deputy biz editor to become its Asia editor

Michael Slackman, the international editor at the New York Times, sent out the following announcement:

The Asia editor for The New York Times is one of the biggest jobs here, overseeing some of our most important stories over an enormous swath of the planet. So with Phil Pan moving on to his next assignment (to be announced soon), there was a moment of anxiety. Who could step in as his replacement?

The answer, if you think about it, was as obvious as it is reassuring: Adrienne Carter.

As deputy Business editor, Adrienne has been a partner with International for years, working seamlessly to cover everything from Brexit to China’s rising global influence, from Venezuela’s collapse to the crash of two Boeing 737 Max passenger jets. She was a force in helping to produce our China Rules special report last year, has honchoed much of the Boeing coverage since the two jets crashed and helped shepherd a signature series on Chinese health care.

Adrienne joins International with deep knowledge about finance and economics — just what we need as we continue working to break down traditional coverage walls tied to print sections of the paper. Every correspondent already knows that he or she  should be thinking about business, economics and tech, regardless of desk, and Adrienne will certainly help realize that vision.

“Adrienne is known among her colleagues for being supportive of their hard work. And no editor gets as excited as Adrienne when a reporter lands a challenging story that will open up new worlds to the paper’s readers.”

That’s not my just my opinion. That’s language from the recent announcement that Adrienne had won the 2019 Nathaniel Nash Award for excellence in business and economics journalism — the first editor to do so in the 21-year history of the prize.

Adrienne joined The Times in 2010. She started as a deputy DealBook editor, became news editor at BizDay about two years later, and then became international business editor with a posting in London. She has been deputy Business editor since 2017.

A confession: For years we tried to lure Adrienne to a full-time gig on International, only to have her editors in business fend us off. Finally!

“This is a big win for Hong Kong,” said Dean Murphy, who worked for seven years with Adrienne on BizDay. “Dedicated, smart, funny, collaborative and the hardest-working person in the room — Adrienne is the kind of journalist who makes everyone around her better.”

Adrienne will join a great team in Hong Kong, partnering with our inspiring and talented deputy Asia editor, Doug Schorzman. She will make the switch to International in August and then, after a few weeks working in N.Y.C., head off to Hong Kong in September.

Congratulations, Adrienne.

— Michael