Current:Home > reviewsNPR's Terence Samuel to lead USA Today -Wealth Pursuit Network
NPR's Terence Samuel to lead USA Today
View
Date:2025-04-12 15:44:26
USA Today has named Terence Samuel, a veteran political journalist who has helped to lead NPR's newsroom since 2017, to be its next editor in chief.
Samuel, currently NPR's vice president of newsgathering and executive editor, will inherit a once-proud news title devastated by cuts. USA Today's parent company, Gannett, has cut 54 percent of its staff over the past four years, according to Jon Schleuss, president of the News Guild, which represents hundreds of journalists throughout the company, though not at USA Today.
Samuel will depart a national broadcast network with vast reach and its own financial strains: NPR recently underwent serious cutbacks that included a 10-percent reduction in staff due to a collapse of podcast sponsorships.
Gannett's challenges are, if anything, more severe. It has been hit by the problems in the newspaper industry and by a crushing debt burden born of the financing by which GateHouse Media, a community-newspaper company, swallowed the old Gannett Company.
At USA Today, Samuel replaces Nicole Carroll, who departed earlier this year. Hundreds of Gannett Co. journalists are planning to stage a walkout next week to protest the compensation for its chief executive and the slashing cuts to the chain's newsrooms.
Samuel is known within NPR as an affable figure who operates with confidence born of decades of Washington experience. Prior to joining NPR, he was a politics editor at the Washington Post responsible for its coverage of the White House and Congress. He also reported for the The Roanoke Times & World News, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch and U.S. News & World Report. He got his start at The Village Voice in New York.
In a brief interview, Samuel said he arrived at NPR the day before then President Donald Trump fired FBI Director Jim Comey.
"It's been the craziest of times from the beginning until the very end," Samuel said of his NPR experience. "This is a far more collaborative newsroom than the one I walked into. I particularly love that we are faster, broader and deeper than we were — both digitally and on the air."
His last day at NPR will be June 23. He will start at USA Today on July 10. Gannett had intended to announce this news on Monday, but put out a statement early Friday afternoon after learning NPR was about to report the news based on information from three sources with direct knowledge who were unaffiliated with the network.
In the release, Gannett's new chief content officer, Kristin Roberts, said Samuel would accelerate the newspaper's transformation, citing "his reputation of leading award-winning newsrooms and fostering cultural change."
While following a relatively conventional arc, Samuel's career includes colorful episodes.
In reporting for his 2010 book on the U.S. Senate, called The Upper House, Samuel became trapped in a snowbank in rural Montana after taking the wrong turn leaving the farm of a local Democratic politician named Jon Tester. Tester, who is now running for his fourth term in the Senate, hauled Samuel's car out of the snow using a tractor.
More recently, Samuel became the target of ire from conservative activists online after he said NPR didn't "want to waste our time on stories that are not really stories" in explaining why it didn't follow The New York Post's reporting on a laptop linked to Hunter Biden. The quote was isolated and promoted on social media by the office of the network's public editor.
At the time, NPR had been refused access to review any of the materials on which the Post based its story. Subsequent reporting, much later, by The Washington Post and The New York Times, appears to have bolstered the authenticity of the laptop and to have undercut some of the grander claims made by The New York Post. Samuel publicly appeared unfazed, focusing on the network's reporting.
NPR will conduct a national search for Samuel's replacement, Edith Chapin, the interim senior vice president of news, said in a note to staff.
"We will be looking to hire someone as soon as possible," she said.
Disclosure: This story was reported and written by NPR Media Correspondent David Folkenflik. It was edited by Deputy Business Editor Emily Kopp. Under NPR's protocol for reporting on itself, no NPR corporate official or news executive reviewed this story before it was posted publicly.
veryGood! (696)
Related
- North Carolina trustees approve Bill Belichick’s deal ahead of introductory news conference
- Man was not missing for 8 years as mother claimed, Houston police say
- New study finds PFAS forever chemicals in drinking water from 45% of faucets across U.S.
- Meta's Twitter killer app Threads is here – and you can get a cheat code to download it
- San Francisco names street for Associated Press photographer who captured the iconic Iwo Jima photo
- Astro-tourism: Expert tips on traveling to see eclipses, meteor showers and elusive dark skies from Earth
- Why the Ozempic Conversation Has Become Unavoidable: Breaking Down the Controversy
- Dyson Flash Sale: Save $200 on the TP7A Air Purifier & Fan During This Limited-Time Deal
- Megan Fox's ex Brian Austin Green tells Machine Gun Kelly to 'grow up'
- America’s Energy Future: What the Government Misses in Its Energy Outlook and Why It Matters
Ranking
- Tarte Shape Tape Concealer Sells Once Every 4 Seconds: Get 50% Off Before It's Gone
- Why Samuel L. Jackson’s Reaction to Brandon Uranowitz’s Tony Win Has the Internet Talking
- Giant Icebergs Are Headed for South Georgia Island. Scientists Are Scrambling to Catch Up
- Madonna Gives the Shag Haircut Her Stamp of Approval With New Transformation
- Whoopi Goldberg is delightfully vile as Miss Hannigan in ‘Annie’ stage return
- Is Natural Gas Really Helping the U.S. Cut Emissions?
- Boy, 7, shot and killed during Florida jet ski dispute; grandfather wounded while shielding child
- Why Jennie Ruby Jane Is Already Everyone's Favorite Part of The Idol
Recommendation
Paula Abdul settles lawsuit with former 'So You Think You Can Dance' co
5 Seconds of Summer Guitarist Michael Clifford Expecting First Baby With Wife Crystal Leigh
‘We Will Be Waiting’: Tribe Says Keystone XL Construction Is Not Welcome
After brief pause, Federal Reserve looks poised to raise interest rates again
What to know about Tuesday’s US House primaries to replace Matt Gaetz and Mike Waltz
Amy Schumer Says She Couldn't Play With Son Gene Amid Struggle With Ozempic Side Effects
Drilling, Mining Boom Possible But Unlikely Under Trump’s Final Plan for Southern Utah Lands
Surrounded by Oil Fields, an Alaska Village Fears for Its Health