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Who is Joseph Kahn? NYT trolled for 'erotic' photo of new Exec Editor

In the photos, Joseph Kahn is seen sitting beside a chair, on the floor, with his shoes off and donning a buttoned-up shirt and tie

The New York Times has named Joseph Kahn as its new executive editor. Kahn will replace New York Times’s first Black executive editor, Dean Baquet, who has led the paper since 2014. Baquet, 65, is now retiring due to the company's mandatory retirement age. “Joe brings impeccable news judgment, a sophisticated understanding of the forces shaping the world, and a long track record of helping journalists produce their most ambitious and courageous work,” the Times’s publisher, AG Sulzberger, reportedly said.

However, New York Times is being roasted after Joseph Kahn was seen 'seductively' posing for a profile for New York Magazine's Intelligencer. In the photos, he is seen sitting beside a chair, on the floor, with his shoes off and donning a buttoned-up shirt and tie. The newspaper is seen spread out beside him, next to which is visible a mug with a Chinese symbol on the front of it. The photo was taken by Chris Buck.

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After the photo surfaced, New York Times' Kahn immediately became the subject of various jokes. Some compared Kahn to Zoolander and George Costanza in the 'Seinfield' episode where he poses in his underwear to seduce a female photo store clerk. While some claimed it brought back memories of 'Right Said Fred', others insisted that it looked like a dating profile where Kahn is trying to get a right swipe. 

Who is Joseph Kahn?

Joseph Kahn, born on August 19, 1964, has served as managing editor of The New York Times since September 2016, before which he was the assistant editor for International. He has previously served as International editor since September 2011 and deputy foreign editor since February 2008.

Kahn was the Beijing bureau chief since July 2003 and also worked as a reporter in the Washington bureau. He covered international economics and trade and was on the business desk in New York. Kahn spent four years as a China correspondent for The Wall Street Journal before he joined The Times in 1998. He is also known for serving as a city desk reporter and foreign correspondent for The Dallas Morning News.

Kahn was part of a team of reporters who were awarded the Pulitzer Prize for international reporting when he was at the Dallas Morning News back in 1994. The team reported on violence against women around the world.

Kahn won the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award for international reporting in 2004, for his series of stories on labor conditions in China’s export factories. This series also famously received a citation from the Overseas Press Club. In the same year, Kahn and his Beijing-based colleague, Jim Yardley, won the Harry Chapin Media Award in the newspaper category for various stories on outbreaks of mass protests in China, as well as the increasing wealth gap. Both of them together won a Pulitzer Prize for international reporting in 2006 for their stories on China's legal system.

Kahn and Yardley, in the same year, won the mention in Excellence in Reporting on the Environment from Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA). Kahn was additionally a winner in the Society of American Business Editors and Writers (SABEW) 2007 Best in Business Journalism Contest for his well-known work on the New York Times project 'Choking on Growth: China’s Environmental Crisis'.

'The lack of shoes is the creepiest part'

Twitter is overwhelmed with jokes after Kahn's recent photo surfaced on social media. "Newly-appointed NYT executive editor Joseph Kahn in a smoldering, seemingly postcoital pose with his charge," one user wrote, sharing the picture. "Joseph Kahn, new executive editor of the NYT. He just tripped on the rug," another user wrote. 

"The lack of shoes is the creepiest part of this, and that's saying something," one user wrote, while another said, "Wait a picking cotton second, he takes his shoes off but keeps the top button if his shirt fastened. Pick a lane, you relaxing or what?" "I too "relax with the paper" while sitting uncomfortably on the floor right next to my desk and chaise," one user said.