Mike Tackett, the Washington managing editor for Bloomberg News, has joined the New York Times as deputy political editor, according to a staff memo.
The Tackett move is the latest change in the Times Washington operation, following on the heels of a shake-up that will soon bring political editor Carolyn Ryan down from New York as the next bureau chief.
Several current and former colleagues recently spoke to HuffPost about Ryan's competitiveness and high standards for reporters she's mentored at the Times, and previously, The Boston Globe.
Globe editorial page editor Peter Canellos, who hired Ryan from the Boston Herald in the late 90's, predicted she would "take a talented bureau that is a great credit to The New York Times and push it to be more immediate, more attuned to breaking news and better able to leverage its superior assets in Washington."
When taking charge of the bureau on Dec. 15, Ryan will retain the political editor role -- a departure from some recent bureau chiefs. During the 2012 election, for instance, David Leonhardt was Washington bureau chief while Dick Stevenson served as political editor. So Ryan will have an larger portfolio within The Times, one that includes several New York-based political reporters.
But clearly Ryan needed a deputy political editor to help oversee political coverage as she assumes broader duties in Washington. And that's where Tackett comes in, the news of which first broke on Politico.
In a memo, Ryan said that Tackett "has a wonderful journalistic spirit, and loves the collaborative and creative dimensions of editing." Tackett worked for 28 years at the Chicago Tribune before joining Bloomberg, where he's helped manage coverage of two national political campaigns.
While concerns remain at The Times about talent retention, the politics desk, at least, has been staffing up.
Since becoming political editor in May, Ryan poached Politico's Jonathan Martin and The Washington Post's Jason Horowitz, the latter who started Monday at the Times. She also brought Times media reporter Amy Chozick over to cover presumed 2016 candidate Hillary Clinton (and Clinton World more broadly).
Ryan's full memo to staff is below:
I am delighted to tell you that Mike Tackett is joining us as deputy political editor, based in Washington.
Mike has a wonderful journalistic spirit, and loves the collaborative and creative dimensions of editing. In Bloomberg's Washington Bureau, where he served as managing editor and bureau chief, his duties have included helping manage coverage for two national political campaigns, along with staff development and recruitment. He has also written long form political analysis for Bloomberg.
A native of Anderson, Indiana. he attended Indiana University, where he received an initial journalism baptism by covering Bobby Knight. He started his career at the Chicago Tribune, where he was a city desk reporter and Night City editor, a period in which he also earned a law degree. (He remembers a talented reporter back then by the name of Dean Baquet.)
He worked as a national correspondent in St. Louis and moved to Washington full time in 1992, covering the Justice Department, then became the paper's chief political writer, and ultimately Washington Bureau Chief. Along the way, he shared the White House Correspondents Association Award for National Reporting with the Times' Christopher Drew. He also had a stint as National Editor at U.S. News & World Report.Mike's wife, Julie Carey, is northern Virginia Bureau Chief for NBC4. They have two children, a cat and a dog.
Please join me in welcoming him.
His email is [redacted]Best, Carolyn