Bina Venkataraman is stepping down next month as editorial page editor of The Boston Globe after a two-year stint in which she expanded and diversified the opinion section, pushed it further into the digital age, and oversaw a project on local housing that was named a Pulitzer Prize finalist in editorial writing.
Venkataraman said Monday she would continue as an editor-at-large to work on special projects and advise on the launch of The Emancipator, an opinion journalism joint venture between the Globe and Boston University that seeks to recast the national conversation on race.
“I’ve loved every minute of it — the pace, the groundbreaking events, redefining the role of the editorial page,” Venkataraman said in an interview. “But there is also a part of me that likes to work on deep projects.”
In an earlier e-mail to the newsroom, she said, “It’s time for me to change up the pace and to take on projects that have a longer time horizon than the daily deadline cycle — as well as to return to writing and pay more attention to my family.”
Venkataraman, 42, took the reins of Globe Opinion in November 2019 after nearly nine years as a senior lecturer in science, technology, and society at MIT, as well as serving as director of global policy initiatives at the Broad Institute.
The world was soon turned upside down by the pandemic, two presidential impeachments, the Jan. 6 insurrection, and racial justice protests, all of which the editorial page covered in-depth. Venkataraman also directed the editorial board’s exhaustive work on the 2020 presidential election and this year’s Boston mayoral contest.
Venkataraman and her team pushed Globe Opinion forward with innovative digital presentations, events, and aggressive reporting, including the Pulitzer finalist entry on housing issues by Alan Wirzbicki and Rachelle G. Cohen. She added new voices and perspectives to the section, including writers Abdallah Fayyad and Kimberly Atkins Stohr, Ideas editor Brian Bergstein, and Amber Payne, co-editor-in-chief of the Emancipator.
“I’m proud of the way we’ve held political leaders & institutions accountable, pushed forward policy that better serves the public interest, and, on many occasions, achieved practical results that improve the lives of people in our region & beyond,” Venkataraman said in a Twitter post.
“Bina is extremely talented and we’re sorry that she’s stepping back from the role but very glad she’s staying at the Globe,” said Linda Pizzuti Henry, chief executive officer of Boston Globe Media Partners.
Henry said the Globe would start a search for a new editorial page editor in the new year. Marjorie Pritchard, deputy managing editor of Globe Opinion, and Wirzbicki will oversee the department on an interim basis.