Columbia Journalism Review Fires Executive Editor Over Reported ‘Hostility’ Toward Staffers

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The Columbia Journalism Review has fired executive editor Sewell Chan — less than a year into his tenure — following internal complaints over what was described as “hostility” toward staffers.

In an email to staff on Friday, Columbia Journalism School Dean Jelani Cobb confirmed that Chan was “no longer with” the publication, which has been published by the school since 1961.

Chan, a veteran editor with prior leadership roles at The Texas Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, and The New York Times, said in a statement Friday that the termination was “hasty, ill considered and quite frankly baffling.”

He acknowledged learning of staff complaints earlier in the week and claimed he had offered to meet with concerned employees. While admitting to “three pointed interactions” in recent weeks, he described them as “normal workplace interactions.”

“This is the same approach I took in leading The Texas Tribune and the Los Angeles Times editorial board and as an editor and reporter at The New York Times,” Chan said. “The norms at Columbia are apparently very different.”

The dismissal reportedly caught even CJR board members off-guard, with several only learning of the firing as the school and board chair Rebecca Blumenstein — also president of editorial at NBC News — announced Chan’s immediate departure in a separate Friday email.

Adding fuel to the fire, former CJR editor Ravi Somaiya published an essay Friday in the Breaker Media newsletter detailing a fraught working relationship with Chan, referencing his “hostility” toward staff.