Jared Kushner is stepping down as publisher of the New York Observer and selling his stake in the newspaper as he prepares to take on the role of senior adviser to President-elect Donald Trump, his father-in-law.
Dear Team:As you’ve certainly been reading, our publisher, Jared Kushner, has taken an official role in the incoming administration.I will be taking over as Observer publisher, and Jared will no longer have an ownership stake in the Observer. He has also resigned from our editorial board and will play no role in the publication’s affairs going forward.Jared has been a dedicated and passionate publisher. I know you join me and everyone at Observer in thanking him for his years of service to this beloved institution and wishing him nothing but the best as he meets challenges ahead.Observer has just finished an amazing year of growth and development. I could not be more excited to face the coming year together with you all.
Along with former Breitbart News chairman Stephen K. Bannon, Kushner contributed considerable media savvy to Trump's successful presidential campaign. But unlike Bannon, who took a leave of absence to join Trump's team, Kushner remained publisher of the Observer throughout the race.
In an interview posted Monday evening by Recode, Observer editor in chief Ken Kurson said Kushner took a mostly hands-off approach to the paper.
Jared didn’t have a ton of input into the tone. You know, he has this reputation, everything we write, today we have an editorial about not being so quick to call people “Nazi” and everybody instantly assumes that Jared ordered that up. It’s ridiculous. He’s actually much less intrusive than just about any publisher I’ve ever worked for. And you have and I have worked for some of the same places and I’d say without reservation that Jared Kushner is an excellent publisher who respects the freedom of the editorial department.
Still, Kushner's new gig in the Trump White House would have put the Observer in an incredibly difficult position, had he not stepped down.