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BBCâ€™s Thompson named New York Times CEO

15 August 2012 02:18 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The New York Times backed up its push for a digital future Tuesday by naming Mark Thompson, the outgoing director general of the BBC, as the paperâ€™s new president and chief executive, APA reports quoting Reuters.

The Times issued a statement saying: "BBC Director-General Mark Thompson will become its next president and CEO. He will also become a member of the companyâ€™s board of directors."

Thompson, 55, will start work in November.

The Times, which is Americaâ€™s most prestigious newspaper as well as a growing online news power, said it had recruited Thompson for his ability to help develop non-traditional news products.

The so-called "Gray Lady" was once synonymous with a somewhat stodgy, if reliable broadsheet daily newspaper. However, the organization now boasts a successful, high-tech subscription website, cutting edge blogs, and video production.

Thompson, who oversaw the British Broadcasting Corporationâ€™s multiple platforms, is expected to bolster that development.

"Mark is a gifted executive with strong credentials whose leadership at the BBC helped it to extend its trusted brand identity into new digital products and services," Arthur Sulzberger, Jr., chairman of the Times Company, said.

"Our board concluded that Markâ€™s experience and his accomplishments at the BBC made him the ideal candidate to lead the Times Company at this moment in time when we are highly focused on growing our business through digital and global expansion."