USA Today Editor in Chief Terence Samuel Is Stepping Down

Terence Samuel, the editor in chief of USA Today, is leaving the role after a year, the newsroom was told on Monday. Mr. Samuel, a veteran journalist, joined USA Today in July 2023 from National Public Radio, where he was a top executive in charge of all news gathering across the broadcaster. Neither Mr. Samuel nor the publication gave a reason for his departure. In an email to the newsroom viewed by The New York Times, Monica Richardson, senior vice president of USA Today, said that Mr. Samuel would leave his job “effective today.” Caren Bohan, the executive editor of politics, will serve as interim editor in chief while the publication conducts “a national search for our newsroom leader,” Ms. Richardson wrote in the email. Mr. Samuel said in an interview on Monday that his departure was “sudden” but that he could not talk about why he was leaving the newspaper. “I wished that this had lasted a lot longer because it was a great year,” Mr. Samuel said. “We did great things in that newsroom and I wish them the very best.” In a statement provided to The Times, Ms. Richardson declined to explain the leadership change. “Terry Samuel has been a valued colleague during his tenure at USA Today. We sincerely wish him well and thank him for his contributions.” Mr. Samuel has had a long journalistic career, with stints at The Washington Post, The Root and The Philadelphia Inquirer, among other outlets. USA Today, which launched in 1982, is owned by Gannett, the country’s largest newspaper chain. Gannett has done sweeping job cuts across its publications since it merged with the chain Gatehouse Media in 2019 as it has struggled to get on top of its debt, which has led to protests from its unionized employees. Katie Robertson covers the media industry for The Times. Email: katie.robertson@nytimes.com More about Katie Robertson USA Today Inside the Media Industry — CNN: ​​The network is in charge of every aspect of the Biden-Trump debate, a major shift from previous years. — Netflix: ​​The company’s latest internal memo about its corporate culture is more about how it expects employees to behave than what it wants to become. — The Washington Post: ​​ Robert Winnett, the editor selected to run the paper following Sally Buzbee’s resignation, will not take up that position, after reports raised questions about his ties to unethical news gathering practices in Britain. — Warner Bros. Discovery: ​​​​ The company’s TNT channel and the N.B.A. have long been inextricably linked, but that may end after next season. — HBO: ​​​​ The network has hit an unusually fallow stretch. Executives hope the return of “House of the Dragon” could be the start of a new winning streak.