Deborah Needleman is an American editor and writer. She was
editor-in-chief
An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...
of ''
T: The New York Times Style Magazine'' and ''
WSJ..'' She was also the creator of the paper's weekend lifestyle section and the founding editor-in-chief of ''
Domino
Dominoes is a family of tile-based games played with gaming pieces. Each domino is a rectangular tile, usually with a line dividing its face into two square ''ends''. Each end is marked with a number of spots (also called '' pips'' or ''dots'' ...
'' magazine.
Early life
Deborah Needleman grew up in
Cherry Hill, New Jersey
Cherry Hill is a Township (New Jersey), township within Camden County, New Jersey, Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As a suburb of Philadelphia, the township is part of the South Jersey and Delaware Valley regions. Cherry Hill ...
and graduated from
George Washington University
The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...
where she studied philosophy and art history.
Career
Needleman worked as a photographer's assistant before becoming the photo editor at ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'' Sunday magazine. She wrote about gardens and design for ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', ''
Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...
'', and ''
House & Garden'', where she was an editor.
T Magazine
In 2012, Needleman was named editor of ''T: The New York Times Style Magazine''.
The first issue of T under her featured
Lee Radziwill
Caroline Lee Radziwill (; March 3, 1933 – February 15, 2019), previously known as Lee Canfield and Lee Ross, was an American socialite, public relations executive, and interior designer. She was the younger sister of former First Lady of the ...
on the cover, for which she and
Sofia Coppola
Sofia Carmina Coppola ( , ; born May 14, 1971) is an American filmmaker and former actress. She has List of awards and nominations received by Sofia Coppola, won an Academy Awards, Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, a Golden Lion, and a Can ...
produced a short film.
In October 2015, Needleman was sharply criticized by T Magazine readers and then-New York Times Public Editor Margaret Sullivan for conflicts of interest created by her assignment of
Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen—wife of billionaire
Marc Andreessen
Marc Lowell Andreessen ( ; born July 9, 1971) is an American businessman and former software engineer. He is the co-author of Mosaic, the first widely used web browser with a graphical user interface; co-founder of Netscape; and co-founder and ...
—to a feature that appeared in the Oct. 12, 2015 issue titled "Five Visionary Tech Entrepreneurs Who Are Changing the World." The criticism mounted around the lack of disclosure that Arrillaga-Andreessen was "not only married to a major player in the tech world, but one who is a major investor in one of the companies she featured."
Needleman, when asked to respond to the controversy by Sullivan, admitted to the error.
Washington Post media critic Erik Wemple criticized Needleman and T Magazine for having "disappeared tech entrepreneur
Elizabeth Holmes
Elizabeth Anne Holmes (born February 3, 1984) is an American biotechnology entrepreneur who was convicted of fraud in connection with her blood-testing company, Theranos. The company's valuation soared after it claimed to have revolutionize ...
" from the Oct. 12, 2015 feature on tech visionaries after the Wall Street Journal reported that Holmes and
Theranos—the blood testing company Holmes founded and was then chief executive of—appeared to be misleading consumers and investors. Holmes was subsequently charged with perpetrating "massive fraud" by the
Securities and Exchange Commission
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street crash of 1929. Its primary purpose is to enforce laws against market m ...
and resigned in disgrace.
One of Needleman's last issues, in October 2016, was themed 'The Greats' and had 7 different covers featuring
Michelle Obama
Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama ( Robinson; born January 17, 1964) is an American attorney and author who served as the first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017, being married to Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United Stat ...
,
Zadie Smith
Zadie Smith (born Sadie; 25 October 1975) is an English novelist, essayist, and short-story writer. Her debut novel, ''White Teeth'' (2000), immediately became a best-seller and won a number of awards. She became a tenured professor in the ...
,
William Eggleston,
Kerry James Marshall,
Junya Watanabe
Junya Watanabe (born 1961) is a Japanese people, Japanese fashion designer, a protégé of Comme des Garçons designer Rei Kawakubo. He continues to work for Comme des Garçons: His atelier is located on the second floor of its Tokyo headquarters, ...
,
Lady Gaga
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her image reinventions and versatility across the entertainment industry, she is an influ ...
and
Massimo Bottura.
WSJ
The newspaper section Needleman created was called 'Off Duty'. It published on Saturdays, covering fashion, tech, design, and food. The name was suggested by her husband. While launching the section for the paper, in 2010, Needleman agreed to become the editor in chief of ''
WSJ. magazine.''
''domino'' magazine
Launched by
Condé Nast Publications
Condé is a French place name and personal name. It is ultimately derived from a Celtic word, "Condate", meaning "confluence" (of two rivers) - from which was derived the Romanised form "Condatum", in use during the Roman period, and thence to ...
in Spring 2005, ''
domino
Dominoes is a family of tile-based games played with gaming pieces. Each domino is a rectangular tile, usually with a line dividing its face into two square ''ends''. Each end is marked with a number of spots (also called '' pips'' or ''dots'' ...
'' was a decorating style magazine centered on the home. In its first year, ''domino'' was honored with The Hot List Startup of the Year by ''Adweek'', Top Launch of the Year by ''Media Industry Newsletter'' and The A-List 10 under 50 by ''
Advertising Age
''Ad Age'' (known as ''Advertising Age'' until 2017) is a global media brand that publishes news, analysis, and data on marketing and media. Its namesake magazine was started as a broadsheet newspaper in Chicago in 1930. ''Ad Age'' appears in ...
''. In its third year, the magazine grew to a rate base of 800K by the time of its closing, it reached a circulation of 1 million. The magazine received two 2008 National Magazine Award nominations from the American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME).
Personal
Needleman lives in Manhattan with her husband,
Jacob Weisberg
Jacob Weisberg (born 1964) is an American political journalist, who served as editor-in-chief of The Slate Group, a division of Graham Holdings Company. In September 2018, he left Slate to co-found Pushkin Industries, an audio content company ...
, the co-founder with
Malcolm Gladwell
Malcolm Timothy Gladwell (born 3 September 1963) is a Canadian journalist, author, and public speaker. He has been a staff writer for ''The New Yorker'' since 1996. He has published eight books. He is also the host of the podcast ''Revisionist ...
of
Pushkin Industries, a podcasting and audio production company, and their two children. She is the author of ''The Perfectly Imperfect Home,'' an illustrated treatise on home decorating; and co-author of ''Domino: The Book of Decorating''. She is on the board of the
National Book Foundation
The National Book Foundation (NBF) is an American nonprofit organization established with the goal "to raise the cultural appreciation of great writing in America." Established in 1989 by National Book Awards, Inc.,Edwin McDowell. "Book Notes: ...
and the
Modernism Advisory Council of the World Monument Fund.
References
External links
''New York Magazine'' on Deborah Needleman
{{DEFAULTSORT:Needleman, Deborah
American magazine editors
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
Writers from Cherry Hill, New Jersey
Women in publishing
The Wall Street Journal people
The New York Times people
Writers from Manhattan
American women magazine editors