USA TODAY Editor-in-Chief Terrence Samuel is stepping down after a year on the job, newsrooms were told Monday.
Mr. Samuel, a senior journalist, joined USA Today last year. july from National Public Radio, where he was the top executive in charge of all newsgathering at the broadcaster. Neither Mr. Samuel nor the publication gave a reason for his departure.
In an email to the newsroom seen by The New York Times, Monica Richardson, a senior vice president at USA Today, said Mr. Samuel would leave his job “effective today.” Karen Bohn, the executive editor of Politics, will serve as interim editor-in-chief while the publication conducts a “national search for our newsroom leader,” Ms. Richardson wrote in the email.
Mr. Samuel said in an interview on Monday that his departure was “sudden,” but he could not talk about why he was leaving the newspaper.
“I wish this year could have lasted longer, because it was a great year,” Mr. Samuel said. “We did great things in that newsroom, and I wish them all the best.”
In a statement to The Times, Ms. Richardson declined to elaborate on the leadership change. “Terry Samuel has been a valued colleague during his tenure at USA TODAY,” she said. “We sincerely wish him well and thank him for his contributions.”
Mr. Samuel has had a long career in journalism, having worked at The Washington Post, The Root and The Philadelphia Inquirer, among other magazines.
USA Today, started in 1982, is owned by Gannett, the nation's largest newspaper chain. Since merging with the GateHouse Media chain in 2019, Gannett has made extensive layoffs at its publications as it struggles to recover from its debt, which led to Protest from its unionized employees.
