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The Krugman-Kingsbury Kerfuffle

Paul Krugman grew frustrated at The New York Times over editing measures implemented in recent years under Opinion boss Kathleen Kingsbury.

Author

Oliver Darcy
December 10, 2024

The New York Times building. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Last Friday, Kathleen Kingsbury, the opinion editor of The New York Times, announced in a note to staffers that Paul Krugman was retiring as a columnist. The memo was kind as could be. It lauded Krugman for his "authoritative voice," "lively writing," and "direct style."

But it was still a fairly low-key way to say goodbye to a Times legend, Nobel laureate, and one of the most famous columnists in the world. There was no goodbye event, in which Kingsbury and publisher A.G. Sulzberger toasted to Krugman's storied career. There was no splashy story placed by The Times' public relations department in a publication like New York Magazine, detailing his towering legacy. There wasn't even a story published by The Times' own media desk on his departure.

After nearly 25 years at The Times, the newspaper chose to simply say goodbye to him with an internal memo, which was later published on The Times' separate company press page. Suffice to say, but it was a muted way to send off someone of Krugman's stature. Perhaps it was because Krugman, famously a curmudgeon, is rarely in the office these days and not exactly known as the celebratory type. He may have preferred to keep news of his departure void of pomp. I would have asked him, but he did not reply to emails seeking comment.

In any case, the quiet goodbye didn't go unnoticed by some others around him and it coincided with some behind-the-scenes friction that had been growing for a while between Krugman and the Times management, I'm told. In particular, Krugman and Kingsbury had fundamental disagreements over…

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