Ousted New York Times Editor Abramson Pitches Journalism Startup

Jill Abramson, the former New York Times Co. executive editor ousted in May, is looking to get back into journalism, this time with a startup.

Abramson said at an event last night she’s seeking funding for a business she would lead along with Steven Brill, the journalist and author who founded Court TV and the American Lawyer.

“We’re talking to some investors who are sounding very interested and we are going to do great stories,” Abramson said at the event in Boston hosted by radio station WBUR. “We’re talking about doing a discrete number of great pieces and I would be involved in recruiting the writers, in helping edit and conceptualize the stories.”

Abramson and Brill would write one larger article a year for the publication, she said.

Abramson, the first woman to run the Times as executive editor in its 163-year history, was abruptly dismissed on May 14 following a fraught relationship with Chairman Arthur Sulzberger. The firing set off a debate about whether gender played a role in Abramson’s ouster, an assertion Sulzberger denied, saying he replaced her after deciding “she had lost the support of her masthead colleagues and could not win it back.”

In June, Abramson announced that this year she would be teaching narrative writing at Harvard University. She had spent seven years at the Times after previous stints at the Wall Street Journal and American Lawyer, where she worked with Brill. Brill didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

“It’s sort of back to the future for me,” Abramson said last night. “As I always did, I see big stories that jump out at me that are not being covered.”