NABJ Mourns the Loss of Former New York Times Publisher Arthur Hays Sulzberger

WASHINGTON, DC (September 30, 2012)—The National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) mourns the loss of former New York Times publisher Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, who led the newspaper to new levels of influence and profit amid some of the most significant moments in 20th-century journalism, died Saturday. He was 86.

Sulzberger, father of current Times publisher Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr., died at his home in Southampton, N.Y., after a long illness, his family announced to the newspaper.

"Our industry has suffered the loss of a great newspaper man,” said NABJ President, Gregory Lee, Jr. "His leadership and commitment to journalism are unmatched and his legacy will continue always.  Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Sulzberger family.”

During his three-decade-long tenure, the newspaper won 31 Pulitzer prizes, published the Pentagon Papers and won a libel case victory in New York Times vs. Sullivan that established important First Amendment protections for the press.

In an era of declining newspaper readership, the Times' weekday circulation climbed from 714,000 when Sulzberger became publisher in 1963 to 1.1 million upon his retirement as publisher in 1992. Over the same period, the annual revenues of the Times' corporate parent rose from $100 million to $1.7 billion.

NABJ sends its deepest condolences to the Sulzberger family.

An advocacy group established in 1975 in Washington, D.C. NABJ is the largest organization of journalists of color in the nation and provides educational, career development and support to black journalists worldwide.

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