Today I’m talking to the Meredith Kopit Levien, the CEO of The New York Times, which is perhaps the most famous journalism organization in the world, and certainly one of America’s most complicated companies. 

The Times is 172 years old, and has only recently become a force on the internet. It’s hard to remember, but back in 2014 and 15, people thought the Times was doomed – that it would be replaced by BuzzFeed and Vice and Vox. Instead, the company has undergone a radical and sometimes painful public transformation, and emerged as something closer to netflix or spotify – a subscription business with a huge investment in product and engineering. 

Meredith has led a lot of that change, and in particular, she’s led the charge in turning a times subscription into much more than paying for news – times cooking and games are hit apps, and of course she bought Wordle last year in a bit of a coup.

Links:
Our Strategy | The New York Times Company
NYT CEO outlines plans to reach 15 million subscribers by 2027
Why the New York Times is buying the Athletic
Wordle has been bought by The New York Times, will ‘initially’ remain free for everyone to play 
The Economics at the Heart of the Times Union Standoff 
'Unstoppable innovator': The meteoric rise of Meredith Kopit Levien, the next New York Times CEO


Transcript:
https://www.theverge.com/e/23416720

Credits:
Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.
It was produced by Creighton DeSimone and Hadley Robinson and it was edited by Amanda Rose Smith
The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Our Editorial Director is Brooke Minters and our Executive Director is Eleanor Donovan.
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