Sulzberger, Arthur Hays

Sulzberger, Arthur Hays, 1891–1968, American newspaper publisher, b. New York City. He joined the New York Times in 1918 and assisted his father-in-law, the publisher Adolph S. Ochs, succeeding Ochs upon his death in 1935. Sulzberger broadened the Times's use of background reporting, pictures, and feature articles, and expanded its sections. He supervised the development of facsimile transmission for photographs and built the Times radio station, WQXR, into a leading vehicle for news and music. Under Sulzberger the Times began to publish editions in Paris and Los Angeles with remote-control typesetting machines. In 1961 he turned the paper's management over to a son-in-law, while remaining chairman of the board. In 1963, his son, Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, 1926–2012, b. New York City, took over as publisher and president after extensive newspaper experience on local news desks and in foreign bureaus. During his years at the Times's helm (president, 1963–79; publisher, 1963–92, chairman and CEO, 1979–97), he led a transformation in the paper's production from hot type and Linotype machines to computerized processes. In 1964 he consolidated the operations of the daily and Sunday editions, which had been separate. One of his most important journalistic acts was the publication (1971) of the Pentagon Papers. A few years later, he introduced highly successful new feature sections. In 1987, Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, Jr., 1951–, b. Mt. Kisco, N.Y., was named deputy publisher after serving as a reporter, night production manager, and in other posts; in 1992 he became publisher. After moving the Times online in 1996, he assumed corporate leadership in 1997, retiring in 2020. A(rthur) G(regg) Sulzberger, 1980–, b. Washington, D.C., son of Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, Jr., joined (2009) the Times as a reporter, served as Kansas City bureau chief, and headed the team whose report (2014) guided the company's digital conversion. He became associate editor (2015) and deputy publisher (2016) before becoming Times publisher in 2018 and chairman in 2021.

See G. Berger, The Story of The New York Times (1951, repr. 1970); I. O. Sulzberger, Iphigene (1981); G. Talese, The Kingdom and the Power (1981); S. Tift and A. Jones, The Trust (1999).

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2024, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

See more Encyclopedia articles on: Libraries, Books, and Printing: Biographies