USA Today’s Top Editor Abruptly Steps Down

Terence Samuel, the editor in chief of USA Today, is leaving the role after a year, the newsroom was told on Monday.

Mr. Samuel, a veteran journalist, joined USA Today last July from National Public Radio, where he was a top executive in charge of all news gathering across the broadcaster. Neither Mr. Samuel nor the publication gave a reason for his departure.

In an email to the newsroom viewed by The New York Times, Monica Richardson, senior vice president of USA Today, said Mr. Samuel would leave his job “effective today.” Caren Bohan, the executive editor of politics, will serve as interim editor in chief while the publication conducts “a national search for our newsroom leader,” Ms. Richardson wrote in the email.

Mr. Samuel said in an interview on Monday that his departure was “sudden” but that he could not talk about why he was leaving the newspaper.

“I wished that this had lasted a lot longer because it was a great year,” Mr. Samuel said. “We did great things in that newsroom, and I wish them the very best.”

In a statement provided to The Times, Ms. Richardson declined to explain the leadership change. “Terry Samuel has been a valued colleague during his tenure at USA Today,” she said. “We sincerely wish him well and thank him for his contributions.”

Mr. Samuel has had a long journalistic career, with stints at The Washington Post, The Root and The Philadelphia Inquirer, among other outlets.

USA Today, which launched in 1982, is owned by Gannett, the country’s largest newspaper chain. Gannett has done sweeping job cuts across its publications since it merged with the Gatehouse Media chain in 2019 as it has struggled to get on top of its debt, which has led to protests from its unionized employees.