Another large crack has appeared in the glass ceiling with
the appointment of a woman as executive editor of the New York Times. Jill
Abramson will take over the job from Bill Keller in September, becoming the
first woman to hold the job in the Gray Lady’s 160-year history.

She seems to be a popular
choice:

A Harvard graduate, Abramson spent almost 10 years as deputy Washington
bureau chief for the Wall Street Journal before working her way up the
Times ladder. No one in the press seems to think it’s a bad idea that
she’s been picked for the top spot.

She has been the second-in-command since 2003 and her appointment
comes with other changes as the Times, for all that it is the world’s leading
paper of record, continues to struggle in a difficult market and to integrate its
print and web operations.

When the Times’ publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. offered her the job Ms Abramson
told him it would be it would be “the honor of my life," she told the Huffington Post. And also:

"I stand on different shoulders," Abramson said in
an interview shortly after speaking to staff. "I talked about the women at
the Times who
have fought to be considered for top jobs and those who have them." She
spoke of chief executive Janet Robinson, former columnist Anna Quindlen,
current columnist (and close friend) Maureen Dowd, as well as journalists Robin
Toner and Nan Robertson, who both died in the past few years.

"I just kind of called out their names," she said.

I congratulate Ms Abramson, although I am not encouraged that
she is a buddy of Maureen
Dowd. Let's hope a woman editor can set an even higher standard for the paper that boasts it contains "All The News That's Fit To Print".