Sewell Chan named editor-in-chief of Columbia Journalism Review
Sewell Chan, editor-in-chief of The Texas Tribune, will become the next editor-in-chief of the Columbia Journalism Review.
Mr. Chan, 46, has headed The Tribune, a pioneering nonprofit newsroom, since October 2021. He will join CJR on September 16, the publication announced Thursday.
CJR, which covers the media industry, has been published by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism since 1961. The company now prints two magazines a year and has a digital division.
“It has always been an intellectual leader in our field, especially in news ethics and decision-making,” Mr. Chan told The New York Times. “I want CJR to be a voice for working journalists facing existential challenges — from hedge fund owners to authoritarian leaders to online harassment — and to explain to the public why fact-based news is more important than ever.”
Mr. Chan fills a role left open by Kyle Pope, who was editor of CJR from 2016 to 2023.
Jelani Cobb, the dean of the Columbia Journalism School, said in an interview that Mr. Chan is “one of the smartest people I know in journalism and publishing right now.”
“We both felt like CJR should really be more of a place that works on the issues we face in journalism, the things we’re trying to address,” Dean Cobb said.
“We needed a forum like this more – the questions we have are more than urgent,” he added.
Mr. Chan has been on the CJR board since 2021. Previously, he was editorial page editor at The Los Angeles Times and a reporter and editor at The New York Times.
During Mr. Chan’s tenure at The Tribune, the outlet was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize and shared a National Magazine Award for its coverage of the 2022 school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. But last year it also went through its first round of layoffs since its inception in 2009, citing a difficult economic climate.
In a message to staff on Thursday, The Tribune’s chief executive Sonal Shah said Matthew Watkins, a senior editor, would become editor-in-chief when Mr Chan leaves.
“Matthew is the perfect leader for the next chapter of The Texas Tribune,” Ms. Shah said in the memo, which was viewed by The Times. “He has earned the trust of our journalists, as well as his colleagues across the organization, and understands the stories Texans need to hear about their state.”
Ms. Shah added: “During Sewell’s tenure, The Tribune’s newsroom has become more representative of our diverse state. Sewell has also been a powerful voice for journalism.”
