AWKWARD

NYT Publisher Blasts Critics on Abramson

Outlines her salary, offenses that got her fired.

Responding to an outpouring of criticism of his decision to fire executive editor Jill Abramson, New York Times Publisher Arthur Sulzberger, Jr. released a statement giving more details about Abramson’s salary and the reasons for her ouster. Sulzberger blasted critics for creating a “shallow and incorrect storyline” about the firing, namely that it had to do with Abramson’s discontent that her salary was less than her male predecessors. He claimed that during her final year, Abramson’s salary had been 10 percent higher than that of Bill Keller, the Times’ previous executive editor. Then things got really awkward: Sulzberger outlined the personal failings that supposedly got Abramson ousted, including “arbitrary decision-making, a failure to consult and bring colleagues with her, inadequate communication, and the public mistreatment of colleagues.”