Alan Murray, the former deputy managing editor and online executive editor of The Wall Street Journal, has been named editor of Fortune. Murray joins the TIME Inc. publication following a short stint as president of the Pew Research Center.
Murray was CNBC’s Washington Bureau Chief from 2002 to 2005, where he co-hosted “Capital Report with Alan Murray and Gloria Borger.” Borger is now with CNN.
Murray, who will be just the 17th editor of 84-year-old brand, succeeds Andy Serwer, who is leaving the company. Murray’s first day will be August 25.
In a 2010 interview with MediabistroTV, Murray talked about the future of business news on TV and online. “When I think about news journalism. I think about reporters who are paid to go out and find the truth. They’re human beings, so they have their own biases. But they are trained to try and get over those biases and find the truth. That kind of reporting I find less and less on television.”
“Fortune is one of the great brands of American journalism,” Murray said in a statement, “and my experience has convinced me great brands can not just survive, but thrive in the new media world. I’m humbled to be following in the footsteps of the likes of Andy Serwer, John Huey and Marshall Loeb, and I look forward to leading Fortune into an exciting new future.”
The author of four books, Murrary began his journalism career as the business and economics editor of the Chattanooga Times. He also worked at the Congressional Quarterly in Washington and at the Nihon Keizai Shimbun in Tokyo on a Luce Fellowship.
More Here’s Murray’s note to the Pew staff.
It is with very mixed emotions that I announce I am leaving at the end of the month to become Editor of Fortune magazine.
This is not a job I was looking for, or sought. But Fortune, created by Henry Luce some 85 years ago, is one of the nation’s great and enduring journalistic brands. It is one of only two places I applied to work after finishing my graduate degree. The opportunity to lead this iconic news organization into the new media world does not feel like just another job opportunity. It feels like a calling, and it is one I find impossible to resist.
I will miss this place immensely. I was an ardent consumer and user of the Pew Research Center before coming here in November of 2012. In the nearly two years since, I have become so much more than that. I am in awe of what you do, your intelligence, your rigor, your overwhelming dedication to your work. This is a very special place and you are a very special group of people. I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to serve the organization for the last two years.
I feel like we have done a lot together, mapping out the right path to the future. But I also believe you don’t really need me to achieve that future. This is not my strategy we are executing; it is yours, reflecting the efforts all of you put into forging it last year. It is also a strategy built in careful consultation with the board of the Center, and the leadership and board of The Pew Charitable Trusts, and one that they fully support.
You also have a very strong leadership team in place, overseen by Michael, Elizabeth and now Robyn. That troika, as well as all the managing directors, will serve you well going forward. Jim McMillan, general counsel of the Trusts and a member of our board, will serve as acting president during what all hope will be a brief search for a new president.
I will be in the office until August 1. My door is open and I will welcome the chance to talk.