The New York Review of Books has confirmed that Ian Buruma, who has been editing the venerable journal since fall of 2017, has left his position. It’s not clear whether he quit or was fired. His departure comes in the wake of the magazine’s controversial decision to publish an essay by disgraced Canadian broadcaster Jian Ghomeshi, who recounted his experience being accused of repeated sexual assaults. The essay was criticized by several outlets, including The New Republic, for multiple factual inaccuracies and whitewashing the allegations against Ghomeshi. (The Ghomeshi article is online. The hardcopy issue of the magazine carrying the article has yet to reach subscribers).
When queried about these criticisms by Isaac Chotiner of Slate, Buruma gave off a slightly cavalier air regarding both the factual inaccuracies and the ethical issues of editing the article. “The exact nature of his behavior—how much consent was involved—I have no idea, nor is it really my concern,” Buruma told Chotiner. Buruma also acknowledged that there was dissension in the staff about the decision to publish. In an earlier interview, he promised to edit the magazine in a “democratic” fashion.
The New York Review of Books was founded in 1963 by Robert B. Silvers and Barbara Epstein. After Epstein’s death in 2006, Silvers took sole command of the journal. When Silvers himself died in 2017, Buruma became the first non-founder to take over the magazine. He seemed a plausible candidate. A contributor the magazine since 1985, he had been personally close to both Epstein and Silvers. As a polymath and much celebrated writer, fluent in Dutch and well-travelled in Asia, Buruma seemed to bring to the journal the cosmopolitan pedigree it valued. However, there were concerns from the start about his lack of editing background.