New York Times Picks Slate, Deadspin And Awl Writers For David Carr Fellowship

The New York Times announced Tuesday it had awarded its first David Carr Fellowship, founded in honor of the late media columnist and reporter, to not one, nor two, but three winners. The prize went to Amanda Hess, currently a writer at Slate, John Herrman, editor of the Awl, and Greg Howard, a writer at Deadspin.

“We found these three candidates so compelling that we decided to select all of them,” said the Times' executive editor Dean Baquet in a news release. “They are thoughtful, deep reporters. We will learn as much from them as they will from us.”

Hess, 30, will write for the Times' Culture desk. Herrman, 28, will write for Media and Business Day. Howard, 27, will write primarily for the New York Times Magazine.

The winners themselves gave nods to the news on Twitter. Howard waved goodbye to Deadspin and confirming his new gig, wrote "[I]’ll be joining everyone @NYTmag, and i promise i will try very, very hard not to screw it up." Hess and Herrman simply tweeted a link to the announcement with a cartoon avatar and an emoji, respectively.

The news comes a day after Times' Public Editor Margaret Sullivan announced she will be leaving her position to become a media columnist for the Washington Post.

Carr was a celebrated columnist and media analyst who had worked for the Times since 2002 before passing away suddenly last February at the age of 58. His column, "Media Equation," was a finalist for the Pulitizer Prize that same year; he was also the author of a 2008 memoir “The Night of the Gun."

Jill Rooney Carr, the late columnist's widow, offered her congratulations to the winners in the release. “In the spirit of David’s curiosity, his ability to see around the corner, and his preference to show rather than tell — I can say with certainty that he would have made these choices himself,” she said.

“On behalf of the Carr family," she added, "we congratulate Amanda, Greg and John and can’t wait to see their work on the written page, on the screen or in a nascent medium that’s yet to be explained.”