Dear Colleagues,

In our many conversations with station leaders over the past few months, we promised greater communication between “The Daily” and public radio stations. This quarterly newsletter will be one element of that.

New Editor of “The Daily”

It’s been an eventful period for “The Daily.”

First off, we’re thrilled to report that Lisa Chow has been named editor of “The Daily.” A veteran audio journalist who has produced, hosted and edited high-impact podcasts for years, Lisa is now leading our efforts to lead the show into its next phase.

Prior to joining The Times in 2019, Lisa was an economics reporter for WNYC, NPR and Planet Money and a senior editor at FiveThirtyEight. She’s perhaps best known for her role as host of the “Start Up” podcast, where she lead the reporting of two high-regarded investigative series.

Lisa has razor-sharp news instincts and bottomless curiosity combined with a clear vision for how to build and manage strong teams. She was instrumental in leading “The Daily” through the pandemic, and we are so excited for her to take on an even bigger role.

New Processes

Since joining the team on an interim basis, Associate Managing Editor Cliff Levy, a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, has been overseeing the editing of our latest multi-part narrative series, Odessa, about the experience of a school in West Texas during the pandemic. His involvement with the series will serve as a model for our approach to original-reporting in the future. At the same time, Cliff is continuing to implement new editing and fact-checking processes that bring the audio team closer to the rest of the newsroom.

D.E.I. Report

In company news, The New York Times released the findings of an intensive, nine-month review of its culture. The report found that while The Times had made meaningful progress in hiring over the past several years, bringing aboard hundreds of new journalists of color, it has not sufficiently changed its newsroom culture to ensure that everyone is able to thrive at The Times. The report, which has been embraced by the entire leadership of the company, calls for transformational and lasting change. Among the concrete list of actions the company has vowed to take: increase the representation of Black and Latino colleagues in leadership by 50 percent by 2025; create a new diversity, equity and inclusion office within the human resources; significantly increase the feedback, training and support we provide managers; establish clearer career expectations and pathways for development and advancement.

The actions recommended by the report will require the most substantial investment The Times has ever made — in terms of time, money and energy — in advancing our culture.

It’s a powerful, bracing and candid report and we recommend reading it.

Communication with Public Radio Stations

We are seeking new ways to solicit feedback from stations. For instance, “The Daily’s” deputy producer, Alexandra Leigh Young, is working with APM to better understand what stations need and want in promos for the show. Please reach out to your station relations representative with your feedback.

As we said, this newsletter is just one way we will be in touch with you. Please let us know what kind of information and updates are most useful to you in future newsletters.

Sam Dolnick
Assistant Managing Editor, The New York Times