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New York Times Names A.G. Sulzberger Deputy Publisher

Arthur Gregg Sulzberger, 36, was named the deputy publisher of The Times.Credit...Todd Heisler/The New York Times

Since 1896, when Adolph S. Ochs bought The New York Times, the Ochs-Sulzberger family has controlled the newspaper. It led the company through two world wars, the publication of the Pentagon Papers, labor strife and severe financial challenges, striving to maintain the paper’s importance even as new forms of media threatened to overtake it.

“The Times,” Arthur Hays Sulzberger said in 1963 when he named his son publisher, “is a family enterprise.”

On Wednesday, The Times continued that tradition, naming Arthur Gregg Sulzberger, a member of the fifth generation of the family, the deputy publisher. The appointment positions him to succeed his father as publisher and chairman of The New York Times Company.

The selection of Mr. Sulzberger, 36, comes at a crucial moment for The Times, converging with a shake-up in the newsroom leadership and the impending release of the so-called 2020 Report, a blueprint for reconfiguring the company for a digital and mobile future. Dean Baquet, the executive editor of The Times, is reviewing a draft of the report and is expected to release it in some form in a matter of weeks.

At the same time, a downsizing of the newsroom looms early next year, stirring anxiety among employees, who are already being instructed to embrace changes in the pace, tone and form of The Times’s journalism.

The competition for the deputy publisher position was closely watched in the newsroom, and the fact that the selection came earlier than expected — the company had said it would happen by next May — will most likely be interpreted as further evidence that the pace of change is quickening.

Mr. Sulzberger, the son of Arthur Sulzberger Jr., who took over as publisher in 1992, was one of three candidates, all cousins. The others were Sam Dolnick, 35, who oversees many initiatives at The Times, including some in virtual reality and podcasts; and David Perpich, 39, who works on the business side and helped put in place The Times’s paywall and other subscription products.

The family trustees and the Times Company’s board approved the appointment after a recommendation from a seven-member committee, which was formed as part of a formal selection process. The committee met about a dozen times beginning earlier this year, and its members interviewed the candidates, each of whom submitted two written memos.

In previous succession choices, there was tension in the family over the perception that sons in the Sulzberger line held an advantage, and the committee’s work was intended to ensure an even playing field for all family members.

Still, Mr. Sulzberger was widely considered the front-runner by employees in the newsroom, in part because he led the team that drafted The Times’s “innovation report” in 2014 which laid the groundwork for the company’s digital transformation and was read in the industry as a guide for sweeping change.

He has also been a national desk reporter and a reporter and editor on the metro desk, and has worked with leaders on the business side on newsroom strategy.

He was informed of his selection Tuesday afternoon by members of the committee, including Mark Thompson, the Times Company’s chief executive and a member of the board. The trustees and the board, Mr. Thompson said, came to a quick and unanimous decision on the committee’s recommendation.

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From left, Sam Dolnick, A.G. Sulzberger and David Perpich, the cousins the selection committee considered for deputy publisher.Credit...Tony Cenicola/The New York Times

“A. G. brings a compelling combination of journalistic experience, genuine strategic insight and a sense of urgency about the need for change and development in the company,” Mr. Thompson said.

The company celebrated the announcement in a fashion befitting of Mr. Sulzberger, who is known in the newsroom for his reserved and measured demeanor. The most ostentatious display of congratulations was a short gathering at 4 p.m. in the newsroom when, before a spread of cupcakes, Mr. Sulzberger, dressed in a dark suit instead of his trademark jeans, quietly addressed the staff.

In an interview on Wednesday, Mr. Sulzberger said he intended to bring a reporter’s sensibility to his new role — by asking questions and listening to others.

Asked how he might be different from his father, Mr. Sulzberger said, “I think anyone who’s worked with me knows I’m very much my own man, but I think this is going to be a period of figuring out the answer to that question: What am I going to uniquely bring to this job?’’

Mr. Dolnick and Mr. Perpich already have senior roles in the company, and Mr. Thompson said, “We see all three of these family members as having a continuing major contribution to make to the company.”

Among the responsibilities of a new publisher will be to choose a successor eventually to Mr. Baquet, who turned 60 last month. The two leading candidates are Joseph Kahn, 52, who last month was elevated to managing editor, the second-highest position in the newsroom; and James Bennet, 50, who took over as editorial page editor in the spring.

The New York Times Company, with a market capitalization of less than $2 billion, is not a large public company, and the Sulzberger family controls its voting shares. But as one of the few national newspapers, it has outsize importance in shaping public discourse.

It is also a company transformed. In the last several years, it has divested itself of many assets, including The Boston Globe and About.com, to focus on its core mission — The Times’s journalism. More recently, it has started to pursue an aggressive global expansion to increase its digital revenue outside the United States.

It has also expanded its digital repertoire, focusing more on graphics, photographs and videos, and has looked to reach a broader audience by, for example, producing live videos for Facebook.

Still, as print advertising erodes and competition increases from other sources of news like Facebook, the company’s challenges have become ever more pressing. The Times is scheduled to release its third-quarter earnings on Nov. 2, which investors and the media industry are likely to scrutinize to see whether new sources of revenue can offset declines in areas like print advertising.

“There’s no question that there’s a lot of stuff going on that represents we’re at a real moment and an inflection point for The New York Times,” Mr. Baquet said. “There’s no question that we’re in the middle of some really thoughtful discussions about how to manage it, how to handle it.”

The elder Mr. Sulzberger said the deputy publisher announcement was not tied to any single event, or a specific challenge.

“This timing is designed to give us a real path so that the deputy publisher can learn and grow in that responsibility and take on new responsibilities,” he said on Wednesday. “I gave myself a window that I knew was longer than the window I needed, so it wouldn’t be tick, tick, tick at the last minute.’’

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Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, right, and his son, Arthur Sulzberger Jr., in the early 1990s.Credit...Burk Uzzle for The New York Times

It is unclear how long the younger Mr. Sulzberger will serve as deputy, and his father said there was no specific time frame for him to take over.

The publisher of The Times, who oversees all editorial aspects of the company and is regarded as its guarantor and public face, has traditionally come from one line of the Sulzberger family. “The glorious thing about this family,” said Alex S. Jones, a former media reporter for The New York Times and a co-author of “The Trust,” about the Sulzberger family, “is they really do consider themselves stewards of this enterprise.”

But when Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, known as Punch, appointed his son, Arthur Jr., publisher in 1992, members from other branches of the family were frustrated by the sense that Sulzberger sons were favored in the process.

That prompted a meticulous development plan this time around, one that the elder Mr. Sulzberger largely witnessed from the sidelines. He was not on the selection committee and did not review the candidates’ memos. Though he was informed of the recommendation late last week, he did not tell his son over the weekend.

As part of the process, the company also took pains to ensure that the candidates got a breadth of experience, and it tracked their progress closely.

Carolyn Ryan, who now supervises the paper’s politics coverage, recalls that as metro editor she prepared detailed reports on both Mr. Dolnick and A. G. Sulzberger when they worked for her, focusing on qualities like leadership potential. Jason Stallman, the Times sports editor, also prepared detailed reports on Mr. Dolnick when he served as the deputy department head.

“We wanted to make sure that we could tell people this was a good process and it was well thought-out, it took into account the things that needed to be and it was not precooked,” said Michael Golden, the vice chairman of The Times, who was on the selection committee.

He added: “I think we’ve managed it well, and I think the family is pleased with the process.”

By all accounts, the competition for the job was cordial. The cousins have known one another since childhood and their families are friendly. They grew up together professionally, huddled in glass-walled meeting rooms to discuss strategy and proceeded through the selection process with mutual respect.

“I really do believe that those three guys have the best interests of the place in their hearts,” said Sam Sifton, The Times’s food editor, who has worked with all three cousins.

Editors, reporters and others who have worked with Mr. Sulzberger say he is reserved but insightful and calm under pressure.

“I’m not someone who seeks the spotlight,’’ he said. “I’m not someone who loves the spotlight. But I’m someone with strong views about what this place needs to do to succeed.”

He said that he was willing “to push this place when I think it needs to be pushed, even when it’s uncomfortable.’’

Because Mr. Sulzberger will be working alongside his father, also named Arthur, the company said that to avoid confusion, the son would be referred to as A. G.

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section A, Page 1 of the New York edition with the headline: A.G. Sulzberger Is Appointed Deputy Publisher of The Times. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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