The Guardian announced on Friday that Guardian U.S. Editor-in-Chief Katharine Viner will succeed Alan Rusbridger as editor-in-chief of The Guardian, ending weeks of speculation over the new heir to the newspaper’s top job.
Viner, who prevailed against three other candidates in The Guardian’s staff balloting process, was rumored to be the frontrunner before The Guardian’s announcement Friday, ahead of Ian Katz, editor of The BBC’s “Newsnight” program.
Rusbridger, a longtime editor at The Guardian, announced in December he was leaving his post to become chair of The Scott Trust, the sole shareholder of the Guardian Media Group. He will leave his job this summer and join The Scott Trust the following year.
In a release announcing her appointment, Viner called her appointment “an enormous privilege and responsibility.”
Being editor-in-chief of the Guardian and Observer is an enormous privilege and responsibility, leading a first class team of journalists revered around the world for outstanding reporting, independent thinking, incisive analysis and digital innovation. I am honoured to succeed Alan Rusbridger, whose remarkable tenure will be remembered for prize-winning journalism and pioneering advances in the Guardian’s global reach. Building on his track record, I intend to lead a media organisation that is bold, challenging, open and engaging. It will be a home for the most ambitious journalism, ideas and events, setting the agenda and reaching out to readers all around the world.
In a separate statement, Rusbridger said Viner would bring “immense experience, flair, warmth, imagination and formidable energy” to the editorship.
