Sam Jacobs Named Editor in Chief of TIME

TIME CEO Jessica Sibley sent the following note to staff on Monday:

Team,

Today, I am thrilled to announce Sam Jacobs as the new Editor in Chief of TIME, effective immediately. Sam will lead TIME’s global newsroom, guide our trusted journalism, and drive innovation across editorial as we continue to focus on accelerating our digital transformation and growing TIME’s audiences.

This is an exciting moment for our brand and today we are making history: Sam is the youngest editor to lead TIME since co-founder Henry Luce. His appointment as TIME’s 19th top editor comes as we are reaching the largest audience in our history—105 million people around the world—with readers under the age of 35 accounting for 45% of TIME’s global audience.

During his decade at TIME, Sam has been instrumental in setting the strategic direction of the editorial team and leading TIME’s trusted journalism across all platforms. In addition to hiring dozens of journalists around the world, he has played a major role in the integration of TIME’s newsroom across platforms—including expanding TIME’s global events, partnering with TIME Studios and building a sustainability platform with TIME CO2 which just launched with the TIME CO2 Earth Awards. Sam has guided the strategy for TIME’s digital editorial operation, which has won multiple Emmy and National Magazine Awards.

Over the past 100 years, TIME has told the essential stories of the people and ideas that shape and improve the world. There is no better leader for guiding that mission today than Sam. As we begin TIME’s second century, we remain unwavering in our commitment to trusted journalism, which is at the core of our company’s impact.

I am confident in Sam’s vision, values, and expertise, and I couldn’t be more excited to partner with him on our shared goals in TIME 3.0.

Please join me in congratulating Sam on his new position.

Best,

Jess

TIME Editor in Chief Sam Jacobs sent the following note to staff on Monday:

Dear all,

I could not be more excited to be named Editor in Chief of TIME. Over the last few weeks, I’ve had the chance to speak with many of you and am looking forward to more conversations this spring. I want to hear what excites you about TIME’s future and how we can support our values together.

I deeply appreciate Jess’s support, trust and partnership; she is a champion for TIME’s journalism and TIME’s future. I am grateful to our editorial team for the extraordinary journalism we create together and to Marc and Lynne for their unparalleled commitment to our work and our mission.

I am also grateful to Edward who gave me my first job in journalism and has changed my life and the life of TIME. Across changes in ownership, our industry and the world we cover, Edward has preserved the best of TIME’s legacy while joyfully embracing its future.

TIME’s mission is to tell the essential stories of the people who shape and improve the world. We do this now in more ways than any other time in our history. What has not changed is our steadfast commitment to maintaining the trust of our readers and building a culture where we challenge and support one another.

Just one example of hundreds: Last year, for nearly an entire month, residents of Yahidne, Ukraine, were kept captive in a basement guarded by Russian soldiers. Working with Ukrainian journalists, we published the villagers’ photographs and their story of survival. Earlier this month, residents of Yahidne were able to see themselves in the pages of TIME. The photograph below shows the vitality and reach of our journalism as well as any way I know.

As TIME journalists we are living an incredible present, and we inherit an invaluable past. We know that integrity and innovation are key features of that inheritance and necessary ingredients of our future. For the past decade, I have had the privilege of working with you through a period of unrivaled change. It’s been such a gift to watch people’s careers thrive and to welcome new ideas and new voices to TIME. I have seen hundreds of colleagues do amazing work in service of our readers and our world. I’ve watched new generations of reporters, editors, and producers be welcomed by their predecessors and together make a new TIME. I love how that process starts again each day.

I look forward to continuing this essential work with all of you.

Sam