The New York Times: New deputies for Standards

Aisha Khan and Mike Abrams

As the Standards team enters into its next era, there will be many challenges: new tools and platforms, more live journalism, polarizing issues, another high-stakes election cycle and continuing attacks on our work and our independence.

To state the obvious, it’s a lot to pay attention to. I’m happy to announce that Aisha Khan and Mike Abrams will take on new roles as deputy Standards editors, working with me to lead the team and to be essential voices as the newsroom navigates the terrain ahead.

Aisha started as an editor at The Times in 2011 and has been hailed since her first days for her solid judgment and deft editing. She came to Standards in 2020 from the Home team/News Desk, where she was genuinely unflappable in the face of unrelenting news.

On Standards, Aisha has been a thoughtful and perceptive voice across the full spectrum of our work, and especially in Video, as our ambitions there expand and we deal with the grim and sensitive task of covering war. Aisha is also an ideas person, always looking for ways to make the work and the process better. She is a newsroom mentor, officially and unofficially, caring deeply about our standards and values, and all the people who embody them.

Aisha will continue to be a Standards liaison to Video and Styles. She will take on additional duties in orientation, training and newsroom outreach, as well as in our work with Newsroom Projects and Initiatives. She will also help define what Standards across international time zones should look like, working with Jill Taylor, who is now based in Seoul.

Mike is coming back to a full-time role in Standards. As director of Journalism Practices and Principles for the last two years, he has done incredible work to explain and champion the rigor and integrity at the heart of every piece of journalism we produce. The natural overlap with our mission in Standards has meant that Mike was never really far away, but we’re very pleased to have him fully back in our mix of daily work and long-term thinking.

Mike has made himself indispensable in every job he’s had since starting at The Times in 2004. He listens, he’s quick, he’s organized, he’s energetic, he knows people everywhere in the newsroom. But above all, he’s a savvy editor who can talk through the big picture as well as the fine details, offering guidance that’s always rooted in our standards and what’s best for the reader.

Mike will bring some of his Culture and Careers responsibilities (back) with him to Standards, including the planning for Newsroom U and Journalism U, involvement in outreach to journalism affinity organizations, and efforts to reinforce our commitment to independence. And he will still be the point person for our best-in-class editor testing and vetting operation. He will continue as part of our team managing the stylebook, and he will be a Standards liaison for A.I. considerations going forward.

With this lineup, we’ll have the best of all worlds: injecting new ideas and leadership while ensuring continuity and preserving our bedrock standards. Please congratulate Aisha and Mike.