Jill Abramson is a role model for female journalists everywhere. She was the first woman to take on the responsibility of executive editor of the New York Times. She held this role for nearly three years, before being fired by New York Times publisher, Arthur Sulzberger, Jr. this Wednesday. Abramson’s position was immediately replaced by Dean Baquet, former editor of the Los Angeles Times and managing editor for the New York Times.
Her firing resulted in many rumors swirling around the internet. Curious readers of the paper and woman’s rights advocates questioned the reasoning behind her abrupt firing. Was it the result of her “pushy” behavior around the newsroom? Could it have been due to her longstanding bad relationship with the publisher and CEO of the paper? Or could it have been something deeper, something hidden below the newsroom? Was Jill Abramson paid less than her male coworkers who held the same position that she currently holds?
As reported in the New Yorker, several weeks ago Abramson discovered that she was paid less in salary and benefits when she was both executive editor and managing editor than the man who held both positions before her, Bill Keller. Reasonably so, she was not happy about it. When she confronted management, she was accused of demonstrating “pushy” behavior. On top of that, she was already having tension with the CEO of the paper. A third issue she was having with the paper, is that she was pushing for a deputy managing editor to oversee the digital side of the paper.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Sulzberger sent out a staff memo explaining his decision. He argued that Jill’s pay was comparable to those that held the position before her and money had no effect on his decision of asking her to step down. He explains that his decision is a result of “concerns I had about some aspects of Jill’s management of our newsroom, which I have previously made clear to her.”
Although the paper claims that Abramson’s realization of a pay gap between her and her male coworkers is not the cause of her firing, speculation will continue to swirl around the internet.
