James Bennet (journalist)

James Bennet
Born James Douglas Bennet
(1966-03-28) March 28, 1966
Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Occupation Journalist, writer
Spouse(s) Sarah Jessup
Parent(s) Susanne Klejman Bennet
Douglas J. Bennet
Relatives Michael Bennet (brother)

James Douglas Bennet (born March 28, 1966) is an American journalist. He is currently the Editorial Page editor at The New York Times.

Background and family

James Bennet was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Susanne Bennet (née Klejman; of Polish Jewish descent) and Douglas J. Bennet. He has a brother and sister. When his father went to work on the staff of Senator Thomas F. Eagleton, the family moved to Washington, D.C. There James attended the St. Albans School.[1] He studied at Yale University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree and was editor-in-chief of The New Journal.

Susanne Bennet taught English as a second language at Language ETC, a non-profit organization in Washington. Douglas Bennet was appointed as a political official in the Carter and Clinton administrations, served as the president of National Public Radio from 1983 to 1992 and as the president of Wesleyan University from 1995 to 2007.

Bennet's older brother Michael is the senior United States Senator from Colorado.

Journalism career

Bennet began his journalism career as an intern for The News & Observer, and later, The New Republic.[1] From 1989 to 1991, he held an editing post at The Washington Monthly.[2] He joined The New York Times in 1991. He rose to serve as a White House correspondent and the Jerusalem bureau chief for the paper.[1][3] Upon his return from Jerusalem, he wrote a memorandum on the proper usage of the terms "terrorist" and "terrorism", which is often cited by editors of The Times.[4]

Bennet was due to become the Times''s Beijing correspondent in late 2006. He resigned from the paper in March of that year to accept an offer to become the 14th editor-in-chief of The Atlantic.[2][3] Bennet was selected by the magazine's publisher, David G. Bradley, following an exhaustive selection process. Bradley conferred with 80 journalists around the United States.[2]

Bennet as editor attracted attention in April 2008 when the magazine featured a cover story on Britney Spears, a change from The Atlantic's tradition in higher culture. The issue did poorly in newsstand sales.[5]

During his tenure, The Atlantic dramatically increased web traffic, and in 2010, the magazine had its first profitable year in a decade.[6]

In March 2016, he was appointed the Editorial Page editor at The New York Times. Bennet immediately added the climate-change denier Bret Stephens to the Times' editorial page, causing a raft of subscription cancellations.[7]

On June 14, 2017, the editorial page published a piece that linked political incitement to the shooting of Steve Scalise as well as the 2011 mass shooting in Arizona that wounded then-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. The piece erroneously cited Sarah Palin's political action committee's map of targeted electoral districts as targeting individual Democratic Politicians. These parts of the piece were later redacted but in response, Palin filed a defamation lawsuit against The New York Times.[8]

Personal life

In 2001, he married Sarah Jessup in a civil ceremony.[9]

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 David S. Hirschman (March 19, 2008). "So What Do You Do James Bennet, Editor of The Atlantic?". Mediabistro.com. Retrieved 2009-01-06.
  2. 1 2 3 Katharine Seelye (March 2, 2006). "The Atlantic Picks Writer at The Times as Its Editor". New York Times. Retrieved 2009-01-06.
  3. 1 2 "James Bennet Index". The Atlantic Monthly. Retrieved 2009-01-06.
  4. ↑ Clark Hoyt (December 13, 2008). "Separating the Terror and the Terrorists". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-01-06.
  5. ↑ Michael Learmonth, "Where Does Hillary Draw More Eyeballs Than Britney? At TheAtlantic.com", Business Insider, Aug 2008, accessed October 10, 2009
  6. ↑ Peters, Jeremy W. (December 12, 2010). "Web Focus Helps Revitalize The Atlantic". The New York Times. Retrieved March 26, 2012.
  7. ↑ Sheth, Shonam, (April 29, 2017). "People are furiously canceling their New York Times subscriptions after an op-ed disputing climate change was published". Business Insider.
  8. ↑ Hawkins, Derek, (June 28, 2017). "Sarah Palin sues New York Times for defamation over editorial on mass shooting". The Washington Post.
  9. ↑ New York Times: "WEDDINGS; Sarah Jessup, James Bennet" August 5, 2001
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