Jill Abramson confronts David Carr for dismissing NYT sexism: "That's ridiculous!"

Watch Abramson speak to former colleague David Carr as part of a WBUR event

Published October 21, 2014 4:50PM (EDT)

Jill Abramson              (AP/Evan Agostini)
Jill Abramson (AP/Evan Agostini)

Jill Abramson, former executive editor of the New York Times, spoke last night at a WBUR and NPR event at Boston University. There she addressed the role of sexism in her firing at the New York Times and hinted at her future journalism endeavors.

Towards the end of the hour-long discussion, Abramson was posed a Twitter question about the role of sexism in her dismissal from the New York Times. Abramson asked David Carr, former Times colleague and discussion moderator, to answer the question. She then promptly called-out his diplomatic answer.

"Oh that's ridiculous David! That's ridiculous! I mean a huge deal was made when I was made executive editor -- the first woman in history," Abramson stated.

Since her unceremonious exit from the Times earlier this year, Abramson has been teaching journalism at Harvard. However, like other industry heavy-hitters -- Nate Silver, Ezra Klein, Kara Swisher -- she may be headed in the direction of a startup, teaming up with journalist Steve Brill for a new website.

Abramson coyly told Carr that she's "thinking of getting back into some writing in reporting."

"I am very seriously thinking about joining -- it's sort of "Back to the future" with me -- joining Steve Brill," Abramson stated. "We are actually pitching a startup that will be very, unsurprisingly, very ambitious killer journalism."

The biggest takeaways from Abramason's talk are that investors are very interested in the new startup, journalists will be paid a living wage, and there will be "one big story a year." Watch the entire discussion below; discussion of Abramson's future plans begins at 44 minutes.

Here is the Storify from WBUR below:



By Sarah Gray

Sarah Gray is an assistant editor at Salon, focusing on innovation. Follow @sarahhhgray or email sgray@salon.com.

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Innovation Jill Abramson Journalism Startup Steven Brill Video