Gabriel Escobar named The Philadelphia Inquirer’s top editor

The former foreign correspondent will be one of the highest-ranking Latinos at a U.S. news organization.

• The Associated Press
  BioRecent Stories

  

  The Associated Press (AP) is a U.S.-based not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City.

(Philadelphia) — Veteran journalist Gabriel Escobar has been named top editor at The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that Escobar, as editor and vice president, has been second in command of the newsroom since 2017. As senior vice president and editor, the former foreign correspondent will lead the staff of about 210 reporters, photojournalists, editors, designers and producers.

Over the past decade, Escobar organized coverage of major stories such as the Papal visit, the 2016 Democratic National Convention, the Eagles’ first Super Bowl win, and a deadly Amtrak derailment, as well as the coronavirus pandemic.

The Columbia-born Escobar will be one of the highest-ranking Latinos at a U.S. news organization.

“I go into this job knowing that there is a superb staff at The Philadelphia Inquirer, and there isn’t any doubt of its quality of work, every day, over the last eight months,” he said, adding that his chief aims are to strengthen the newspaper’s “collegial” spirit while keeping up the staff’s dedication to producing high-quality journalism.

Escobar takes over the position left vacant by the resignation in June of former executive editor Stan Wischnowski after an uproar over a headline lamenting damage to businesses amid protests against racial injustice. Wischnowski was named executive editor of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in September.