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Fifth Generation Of Sulzberger Family Takes Leading Role At 'New York Times'

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

One family has owned and operated The New York Times since 1896. And this week, the fifth generation takes on a leadership role. A.G. Sulzberger, the new deputy publisher, remembers his father showing him the printing press when he was 5.

A.G. SULZBERGER: The thing that really jumps out at me is the ink everywhere. The walls were stained with ink. The floor was stained with ink. The ceiling was stained with ink. The hands of all the people who worked there were stained with ink.

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

Sulzberger says his main concern is to make sure The Times keeps adapting.

SULZBERGER: You know, it was only 20 years ago that The New York Times was in an existential crisis about whether or not it was un-Timesian (ph) to print color photographs on the front page because it had always been a black and white paper.

MONTAGNE: Now, in a spectacularly divisive political year, The Times has been accused of biased coverage by the Trump campaign, and large portions of the country do not consider it a reliable news source.

SULZBERGER: I'd point out that for all the complaints that Trump may have, that we've done deep, investigative work on both candidates. It wasn't too long ago that it was Hillary Clinton complaining that The Times was being too tough on her. The story about Hillary Clinton's private email server first appeared on the front page of our newspaper.

GREENE: That is A.G. Sulzberger, The New York Times' new deputy publisher. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

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