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Jill Abramson, David Carr converse about future of media

Former New York Times Executive Editor Jill Abramson and Boston University Professor and New York Times columnist David Carr talk about the future of media Monday at Tsai Performance Center. PHOTO BY SARAH FISHER/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Former New York Times Executive Editor Jill Abramson and Boston University Professor and New York Times columnist David Carr talk about the future of media Monday at Tsai Performance Center. PHOTO BY SARAH FISHER/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

Following her sudden dismissal as executive editor of The New York Times in May, Jill Abramson, the first female to hold the position at the Times, returned to her roots at Harvard University as a visiting lecturer in the school’s english department. But, as she told approximately 300 people at Boston University’s Tsai Performance Center Monday evening, her days of writing and reporting are far from over.

In an announcement she said she “thought about beforehand,” Abramson revealed her plans to launch a start-up with Steven Brill, the founder of CourtTV and American Lawyer magazine, to create “unsurprisingly very ambitious, killer journalism.”

“We are going to do great stories and offer great journalists, actually money that they can live on to write something wonderful for us,” she said.

Together, Abramson and Brill will recruit writers and edit and conceptualize stories, she said. Each year, they will work on one, big story.

Abramson’s announcement, which was greeted with applause, was delivered during an evening that served as the first section in WBUR’s Fast Forward Series. Monday’s discussion was planned in partnership with the College of Communication. On stage, Abramson was joined by NYT columnist and COM professor David Carr to field questions pre-written by audience members. The introduction and audience questions were hosted by Jeremy Hobson, co-host of NPR’s “Here and Now.”

“See, now I can speak my mind,” Abramson said, to which the audience chuckled. “It’s very liberating.”

Abramson’s abrupt leave from the Times was mentioned throughout the night, both in the audience questions and her conversation with Carr. During one of Carr’s questions, Abramson interrupted his use of the words “pushed out of your job,” and said in response, “Just say fired, jeez.”

“I was fired,” she said. “I have devoted my career to telling the truth, and the truth was that I was fired.”

One of the submitted questions asked Abramson whether she thought sexism played a role in her dismissal from the Times, to which she deferred the question to Carr, who said her gender never seemed to matter in the history of her career until recently.

“Oh, that’s ridiculous,” she said in response. “A huge deal was made when I was made executive editor, first woman in history, and when I became Washington bureau chief. I was the first woman to have that job, and I was the first woman to be managing editor. So please don’t say it was only recently.”

Carr and Abramson also spoke about the lessons they have learned from their students as they began teaching at BU and Harvard, respectively.

“The thing that has been stunning to me is the level of seriousness that my students are bringing to the work that they have,” Carr said. “There’s a lot to worry about in the world, maybe some of it alright, but I think worrying about this next generation is a waste of time. I think they’ve got it going on.”

Abramson echoed Carr’s statement and said she feels “privileged” to be teaching some of the brightest students in the country.

Several attendees said the journalistic duo made for an enjoyable evening, and they are excited to see where Abramson’s start-up takes her career.

Sherin Pierce, 57, of Dublin, New Hampshire, said she works in publishing and she traveled 18 miles with many of her colleagues to see Abramson and Carr speak.

“There was a great chemistry between them, and you could see this genuine respect and affection for one another. I think that’s the best kind of interview,” she said. “They’re both so brilliant in their own ways, and they brought that together.”

Roy Harris Jr., 68, of Hingham, said he worked with Abramson while she was at The Wall Street Journal, and she was one of the people who kept the Washington bureau a “solid part of American journalism.”

“We were always proud of our Washington bureaus,” he said. “I wouldn’t say either one of them is a person that I’d want to hear make a long speech, but together, I thought the staccato and the counterpoint was terrific.”

Helene Solomon, of Brookline and a 1974 COM graduate, said the conversation between Carr and Abramson was “refreshingly direct,” and Abramson’s new plans for the start-up are a continuation of her lifelong love of journalism.

“It’s great that she’s teaching. She’s kind of a natural,” she said. “She embraced, maybe more than others at the Times at the time, new technology and digital and teaming up with Steve Brill is innovative. Underneath it all, she’s really an innovative journalistic leader, more so than maybe people give her credit for.”

CORRECTION: A preview version of this story said Roy Harris Jr. and Jill Abramson worked together at The Washington Post, rather than The Wall Street Journal. The story has been corrected to reflect this change.

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One Comment

  1. Error in the story. Jill Abramson and I were NOT at the Washington Post. It was the Wall Street Journal, which is what I told Felicia in the hallway. Needs to be corrected in section reading:

    Roy Harris Jr., 68, of Hingham, said he worked with Abramson while she was at The Washington Post, and she was one of the people who kept the Washington bureau a “solid part of American journalism.”

    “We were always proud of our Washington bureaus,” he said. “I wouldn’t say either one of them is a person that I’d want to hear make a long speech, but together, I thought the staccato and the counterpoint was terrific.”

    That makes sense, too, because the Wash Post, of course, doesn’t not have a “Washington bureau.” Otherwise, story looks good.