A Shark of a Business Editor Steps Down

When Ellen Pollock, the longtime Business editor of The New York Times, calls in to a video meeting, she’s often in front of a virtual background resembling the deck of a spaceship.It’s a whimsical touch with a serious message: She is at the controls.After nearly a decade atop one of the largest news desks at The Times, Pollock has decided to leave the role this month.

She took over the desk in 2017 after stints as a reporter and an editor at The American Lawyer, The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg Businessweek, where she was editor in chief.She hasn’t announced what she’ll do next in The Times’s newsroom, only that she intends to take a break first.We used this occasion to talk about her tenure, the business world and the challenges facing journalism.

These are edited excerpts from our conversation.Nine years is a long run as a department head at The Times.These are stressful management roles with responsibility for overseeing competitive coverage and a large staff.

How did you endure?Momentum and instinct help a lot.Nobody gets into this kind of work without being aggressive and wanting to win — so that has helped keep me going.

If I were a fish, and for the record I’m glad I’m not, I’d definitely be a shark.But the main thing that motivates anyone in my kind of job is the desire to inform readers and get them the truth — as soon as possible and with as much explanation and nuance as possible.It’s a mission.

And even if that sounds kind of corny, it’s true.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe....