NYT’s names Duhigg leader of events/conference business

New York Times executive editor Dean Baquet and editorial page editor Andrew Rosenthal sent out the following announcement on Thursday:

We are pleased to announce that Charles Duhigg, one of our most acclaimed financial writers, will become the newsroom’s leader for an events and conferences business that builds on our journalism and authority. Charles will partner in this important enterprise with a new business leader Meredith Levien will announce soon.

Charles will work with colleagues throughout the company to expand the conferences The Times already runs, like Cities for Tomorrow, the Luxury Conference, the magazine’s events, DealBook, Schools for Tomorrow, Food forTomorrow and the INYT conferences, and he will provide support to TimesTalks and our other successful live journalism events. He will also work with the newsroom, the Editorial Department and our business-side colleagues to find other ideas that allow newsmakers and our journalists to take the stage together to discuss the biggest issues of the day.

Our goals for this enterprise are ambitious. Some of the most important news organizations in the world have built hugely successful events businesses — from The New Yorker festival, which draws writers and thinkers to discussions across the city, to the Los Angeles Times book festival, which has become one of the nation’s premier literary events. We have already made a renewed push in this area by investing in Tina Brown’s Women in the World event, which drew major speakers here last week.

Until the new business lead is in place, Charles will work closely with Gerald Marzorati, who has already taken a leading role in our events business.

The selection of Charles, one of our biggest stars, is another example of how we are pushing our best journalists to take on larger roles for The Times. We believe journalists must help lead as we navigate the future of our company.

It is hard to imagine a reporter better suited to lead the newsroom effort. No one has a stronger combination of journalistic ambition, broad vision and deep respect for our values. Charles joined The New York Times in 2006, and for nine years was an investigative reporter in the business section. He was a leader of the team that won the Pulitzer Prize in 2013 for Explanatory Reporting for the iEconomy series. He has won a George Polk Award and numerous business prizes. He has investigated companies that take advantage of the elderly, the roots of the financial crisis, and unchecked water pollution. He wrote a best-selling book, “The Power of Habit.” And he is, appropriately enough, a frequent and popular speaker at conferences.

Charles will have the title Senior Editor, and he will report directly to the two of us.