Incoming New York Times Editor Addresses That Photo

Zachary LeemanApr 22nd, 2022, 4:09 pm
 

The next executive editor of the New York Times, Joe Kahn, learned a media lesson ahead of taking on his new position: beware the photo poses.

A New York Magazine profile of the veteran journalist drew mockery for Kahn, mainly over a shot of him sprawled out on a rug next to the newspaper, leaning back as he relaxed shoeless and aimed a smoldering look directly at the camera.

The caption on the photo that made the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist the center of so many jokes read: “Kahn relaxing with the paper.” The photo became instant meme fodder, with Kahn’s pose drawing unenviable comparisons to fictional characters like George Costanza.

Kahn addressed the hoopla in a new interview.

“One of the things I’ve learned is that you should say ‘no’ to certain things that a photographer asked you to do to enhance the shot,” he told Bloomberg about the photo, which was captured by Chris Buck.

Kahn, a decorated correspondent for the Times who spent much of his career reporting in China, served as managing editor for the New York Times from 2016. He will replace Dean Baquet as executive editor in June, as Baquet steps down for another role at the paper that has yet to be announced.

Other bits from the New York Magazine profile on the “fabulously wealthy” Kahn earned pushback too, especially from conservative critics of the New York Times. One section of the story highlighted his “taste for the finer things”:

He is a familiar face at opening night of the Metropolitan Opera. He is an oenophile with a particular fondness for Burgundy and is part of a wine consortium that includes the billionaire Joseph Bae.

Despite the suggestions that Kahn is out of touch, he told Bloomberg this week that capturing more readers in Middle America is one of his goals in the new position, adding he wants to move journalists “as much as possible away from the coastal bases of coverage.”

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Zachary Leeman

Zachary Leeman covered pop culture and politics at outlets such as Breitbart, LifeZette, BizPac Review, HollywoodinToto, and others. He is the author of the novel Nigh. He joined Mediaite in 2022.