The New York Times Company has named BBC director general Mark Thompson as president and chief executive, following nine months in which the company's future leadership was uncertain. “Our board concluded that Mark’s experience and his accomplishments at the BBC made him the ideal candidate to lead the Times Co. at this moment in time when we are highly focused on growing our business through digital and global expansion,” Sulzberger said in the statement.
– The New York Times has a new boss—Mark Thompson, the head executive of the BBC, reports the Boston Globe. Thompson is set to take over the Gray Lady in November as president and CEO, taking over from Janet Robinson, who was ousted from the Times last December. "It is a real privilege to be asked to join the Times Company as it embarks on the next chapter in its history," Thompson said in a statement. "They’re both news companies with incredible global authority and also both are known for being a bit of a stick in the mud," one analyst tells Bloomberg. Thompson has spent his entire career in broadcasting and his appointment is a sign that the Times is planning to shift further into the Internet and multimedia in the future, say observers. (Amusing side note: Politico dug up an old Guardian story about the time Thompson bit a colleague.)