Jodi Kantor graduated from Columbia University in 1996 and attended
Harvard Law School for one semester, taking a leave to work at Slate,
where she became an editor. After corresponding with New York Times
columnist Frank Rich about how that paper could improve its arts
coverage, she was brought on as editor of the Arts and Leisure section
by Howell Raines, executive editor. Jodi Kantor was only 27 at the time.
She is thought to be the youngest person to edit a section of the New
York Times. Under the guidance of Rich and others, she remade the
section to include a more visual approach, new features and more
ambitious reporting. While some criticized Kantor for using some writers
with web-only journalism experience and assigning pieces on pop culture,
others believed she helped the paper connect with audiences.
More recently, Kantor has been covering politics for the Times, most notably the 2008 presidential campaign and Barack Obama's biography. Starting in 2007, she wrote some of the earliest articles about Michelle Obama, the role of the Obama daughters in their father's career, the role of basketball in the president's life, his relationship with Rev. Jeremiah Wright and his career as a constitutional law professor. In autumn of 2009, she co-broke the story of Michelle Obama's slave roots and authored a cover story in the New York Times Magazine about the first marriage, for which she interviewed the president and first lady in the Oval Office. In November 2009, Kantor landed a reported seven-figure book deal to write a book about the president and first lady. After she broke the news of initial strain between Obama and Reverend Jeremiah Wright in 2007, Wright posted an angry letter to Kantor on his church's website. Her editors subsequently defended her. Kantor was criticized by the Times public editor Clark Hoyt for using Facebook to find parents of classmates of John and Cindy McCain's 16-year-old daughter Bridget.
More recently, Kantor has been covering politics for the Times, most notably the 2008 presidential campaign and Barack Obama's biography. Starting in 2007, she wrote some of the earliest articles about Michelle Obama, the role of the Obama daughters in their father's career, the role of basketball in the president's life, his relationship with Rev. Jeremiah Wright and his career as a constitutional law professor. In autumn of 2009, she co-broke the story of Michelle Obama's slave roots and authored a cover story in the New York Times Magazine about the first marriage, for which she interviewed the president and first lady in the Oval Office. In November 2009, Kantor landed a reported seven-figure book deal to write a book about the president and first lady. After she broke the news of initial strain between Obama and Reverend Jeremiah Wright in 2007, Wright posted an angry letter to Kantor on his church's website. Her editors subsequently defended her. Kantor was criticized by the Times public editor Clark Hoyt for using Facebook to find parents of classmates of John and Cindy McCain's 16-year-old daughter Bridget.
