Jim Rich
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James Rich (born ) is an American journalist and newspaper editor. Originally known for his sports coverage with the ''
New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates three online sites: NYPost. ...
'', Rich has served twice as editor-in-chief of New York's '' Daily News'', also editing ''
The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...
'' and later the sports website ''
Deadspin ''Deadspin'' is a sports blog owned by Lineup Publishing. Founded by Will Leitch in 2005 and originally based in Chicago, it was then sold to Gawker Media, Univision Communications and G/O Media. Lineup Publishing acquired it in March 2024, t ...
'' on two separate occasions.


Early life and education

James Rich was raised in Buchanan in
Westchester County, New York Westchester County is a County (United States), county located in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, bordering the Long Island Sound and the Byram River to its east and the Hudson River on its west. The c ...
. His father worked as a mechanics foreman for the Cortlandt Sanitation Department. He studied briefly at
Westchester Community College Westchester Community College (WCC) is a public community college in Valhalla, New York, in Westchester County. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system. History New York state opened five coed technical institutes in 194 ...
and then in Florida. He returned to Westchester to complete a communications degree.


Career

Following his degree, Rich worked at a regional weekly newspaper in Eastchester. He then worked at the ''New Britain Herald''. In 2000, Rich began covering sports for the ''
New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates three online sites: NYPost. ...
''.


''Daily News''

In 2004, Rich began working at New York's '' Daily News'' as the deputy sports editor. During the
NFL regular season The National Football League (NFL) regular season begins on the weekend following the first Monday of September (i.e., the weekend following the Labor Day holiday) and ends in early January, after which that season's playoffs tournament begins. ...
, he wrote a weekly betting column. When
Colin Myler Colin Myler is a US-based British journalist. Early life Myler grew up in the Hough Green area of Widnes, Cheshire. He was raised Catholic, served as an altar boy and attended SS John Fisher and Thomas More Roman Catholic High School, at the tim ...
took over as editor of the ''Daily News'' in 2012, Rich was promoted to executive editor and began focusing on the paper's online output. In September 2015, it was announced that Rich would be taking over as editor of the paper. The ''Daily News'' had recently been through an aborted sale and a series of layoffs, with
Jonathan Mahler Jonathan may refer to: *Jonathan (name), a masculine given name Media * ''Jonathan'' (1970 film), a German film directed by Hans W. Geißendörfer * ''Jonathan'' (2016 film), a German film directed by Piotr J. Lewandowski * ''Jonathan'' (2018 ...
describing it as a "battered symbol of the diminished state of America’s newspapers". Its distribution had fallen to 234,000 on weekdays, compared to 500,000 five years before. In taking the position, Rich vowed to continue Myler's focus on creating digital media with a more national and
populist Populism is a contested concept used to refer to a variety of political stances that emphasize the idea of the " common people" and often position this group in opposition to a perceived elite. It is frequently associated with anti-establis ...
partisan approach. Beginning his editorship in October 2015, his early efforts saw the paper praised for its political front-page headlines by commentators like
Lawrence O'Donnell Lawrence Francis O'Donnell Jr. (born November 7, 1951) is an American television anchor, actor, author, screenwriter, liberal political commentator, and host of '' The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell'', an MSNBC opinion and news program that ...
and
Katrina vanden Heuvel Katrina vanden Heuvel ( ; born October 7, 1959) is an American editor and publisher. She is the publisher, part-owner, and former editor of the progressive magazine ''The Nation''. She was the magazine's editor from 1995 to 2019, when she was ...
. Cover images criticising
Ted Cruz Rafael Edward Cruz (; born December 22, 1970) is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States senator from Texas since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, Cruz was the solicitor general of Texas from 2003 ...
,
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
and
Sarah Palin Sarah Louise Palin (; Heath; born February 11, 1964) is an American politician, commentator, and author who served as the ninth governor of Alaska from 2006 until her resignation in 2009. She was the 2008 Republican vice presidential nomi ...
were among those to go viral on social media. The paper's online viewership increased during this period, from 132.5 million global views in October to 149.6 million in January 2016. While at the ''Daily News'', Rich oversaw a joint investigation between Sarah Ryley and
ProPublica ProPublica (), legally Pro Publica, Inc., is a nonprofit investigative journalism organization based in New York City. ProPublica's investigations are conducted by its staff of full-time reporters, and the resulting stories are distributed to ne ...
into decades-old laws which allowed the
NYPD The City of New York Police Department, also referred to as New York City Police Department (NYPD), is the primary law enforcement agency within New York City. Established on May 23, 1845, the NYPD is the largest, and one of the oldest, munic ...
to force people from their homes and businesses without warning. The investigation saw the introduction of the
Nuisance Abatement Fairness Act Nuisance (from archaic ''nocence'', through Fr. ''noisance'', ''nuisance'', from Lat. ''nocere'', "to hurt") is a common law tort. It means something which causes offence, annoyance, trouble or injury. A nuisance can be either public (also "comm ...
by the
New York City Council The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of New York City in the United States. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five boroughs. The council serves as a check against the mayor in a mayor-council government mod ...
and the journalists involved later received the
2017 Pulitzer Prize The 2017 Pulitzer Prizes were awarded by the Pulitzer Prize Board for work during the 2016 calendar year. Prize winners and nominated finalists were announced by Mike Pride at 3:00 p.m. EST April 10, 2017. ''The New York Times'' won the m ...
for
Public Service journalism Public service journalism, public service media, or public service internet, is when mission-driven organizations report the news and have editorial independence from governments (unlike state media) and for-profit companies. Public service outl ...
. In October 2016, Rich left the ''Daily News'' and was replaced with Arthur Browne. The decision came as a shock to those at the paper. Rich had apparently been told by management to lessen the criticism of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in the lead up to the 2016 election on November 8. In fact, Rich had an opportunity to publish a story on Trump's tax returns, but was beaten to the punch by the NY Times. Rich later defended his criticism of Trump voters and argued against those criticising the media, writing that "none of us should apologize for exposing ― in the loudest, most passionate way ― hatred, oppression and unfairness".


''The Huffington Post''

Rich later began working as editor of ''
The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...
'' (later ''Huffpost''). He stepped down from the position in December 2017 and claimed to be starting a non-profit news site focusing on local New York news.


''Daily News'' second editorship

In January 2018, ''Daily News'' owners
Tronc Tribune Publishing Company (briefly Tronc, Inc.) is an American newspaper print and online media publishing company. The company, which was acquired by Alden Global Capital in May 2021, has a portfolio that includes the ''Chicago Tribune'', t ...
announced that Rich would be replacing Arthur Browne as editor-in-chief, following his retirement a month earlier. Tronc had purchased the newspaper for $1 from
Mortimer Zuckerman Mortimer Benjamin Zuckerman (born June 4, 1937) is a Canadian-American billionaire media proprietor, magazine editor, and investor. He is the co-founder, executive chairman and former CEO of Boston Properties, one of the largest real estate inve ...
in September 2017. On July 23, 2018, Tronc announced that it would be firing Rich and more than 40 other members of staff at the ''Daily News''. Rich was succeeded as editor by
Robert York Robert York (23 August 1909 — 21 May 1975) was an American cartoonist from 1930 to 1974. York began working for the Chicago Tribune and Nashville Banner throughout the 1930s before joining the Louisville Times in 1937. As a political cartoonist ...
, who had been editor at Tronc's ''
The Morning Call ''The Morning Call'' is a daily newspaper in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1883, it is the second-longest continuously published newspaper in the Lehigh Valley, after '' The Express-Times''. The newspaper is owned by Alden Global Capital ...
''. Rich appeared to criticise the decision before its announcement, writing on
Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
: "If you hate democracy and think local governments should operate unchecked and in the dark, then today is a good day for you". The move was also criticised by New York governor
Andrew Cuomo Andrew Mark Cuomo ( , ; born December 6, 1957) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 56th governor of New York from 2011 until his resignation in 2021. A member of the Democratic Party and son of former governor Mario Cuomo, ...
, who urged the company to reconsider the layoffs.


SWNS Media Group

After leaving the ''Daily News'' again, Rich served as editor of the British news agency SWNS Media Group.


''Deadspin''

In January 2020,
G/O Media G/O Media Inc. is an American media holding company that owns and operates the digital media outlets '' Kotaku'' and '' The Root''. It was formed in 2019 after the private equity firm Great Hill Partners purchased two digital portfolios from ...
announced that Rich would take over as editor of its sports news website ''
Deadspin ''Deadspin'' is a sports blog owned by Lineup Publishing. Founded by Will Leitch in 2005 and originally based in Chicago, it was then sold to Gawker Media, Univision Communications and G/O Media. Lineup Publishing acquired it in March 2024, t ...
''. Since firing its previous editor Barry Petchesky in October 2019 for publishing non-sports content, the website had lost more than a dozen staff and not published any content since November. Before hiring Rich, G/O Media had recently moved the website's editorial office from New York City to Chicago, with 97% of the company's editorial staff supporting a vote of no confidence in CEO
Jim Spanfeller James J. Spanfeller Jr. is an American executive known for running Forbes.com from 2001 to 2009. He is currently the CEO of G/O Media which consists primarily of sites that were previously part of Gawker Media. Spanfeller was hired by private e ...
following the move. Rich offered his sympathy for those who had left the website, saying "It’s not a decision you make lightly when you’re weighing your livelihood against your journalistic principles". In March 2020, ''Deadspin'' began publishing news articles again. Rich became editorial director of G/O Media in April 2020. On July 9, 2021, Rich resigned from G/O Media due to clashes with upper management. The ''New York Post'' suggested that he had been frustrated by editorial interference from Spanfeller and others. The position of G/O Media editorial director was eventually filled in January 2023 by Merrill Brown. Rich then spent time as a consultant. In February 2022, he was reported to be producing a documentary on '' Penthouse'' founder
Bob Guccione Robert Charles Joseph Edward Sabatini Guccione ( ; December 17, 1930 – October 20, 2010) was an American visual artist, photographer and publisher. He founded the adult magazine '' Penthouse'' in 1965. This was aimed at competing with ''Playbo ...
with
A&E Networks A&E Television Networks, LLC, doing business as A+E Global Media (formerly A+E Networks) is an American multinational broadcasting company owned and operated as a 50–50 joint venture between Hearst Communications and The Walt Disney Company th ...
. In July 2023, G/O Media announced that Rich would be working again as editor of ''Deadspin''. In March 2024, G/O Media announced that the website had been sold to Lineup Publishing and its entire staff team were fired.


Personal life

Rich has been married three times. He and his third wife, ''
New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates three online sites: NYPost. ...
'' journalist Mary Huhn, adopted their son in 2012. Huhn is the granddaughter of Henrietta Buckler Seiberling and great-granddaughter of
Frank Seiberling Franklin Augustus "Frank" Seiberling (October 6, 1859 – August 11, 1955), also known as F.A. Seiberling, was an American innovator and entrepreneur best known for co-founding the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company in 1898 and the Seiberling Rubber ...
.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rich, Jim Living people People from Westchester County, New York 21st-century American newspaper editors American male journalists New York Daily News people New York Post people HuffPost Seiberling family Year of birth missing (living people) 1970s births Westchester Community College alumni