Photo by: Adi Talwar
Thomas (left) with Murphy at City Limits’ 35th Anniversary Celebration in 2011.
Mark Anthony Thomas, who’s served as City Limits’ director since November 2009, has been admitted to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan Fellowship for Innovation and Global Leadership, a prestigious MBA program whose alums include Kofi Annan, Carly Fiorina and Bruce Gordon.
Thomas, who served as deputy director of City Limits’ former parent company City Futures (now the Center for an Urban Future) from 2008 to 2009, will depart in late May.
Jarrett Murphy, currently City Limits’ editor-in-chief, will become executive editor and publisher.
During his time at City Limits, Thomas oversaw the Community Service Society’s acquisition of the organization, two major redesigns of the website, the transition to an all-digital publication, the launch of the Brooklyn Bureau and the acquisition of the Bronx News Network, which will be re-launched soon as the Bronx Bureau.
City Limits saw a substantial increase in traffic, won 20 major journalism awards and secured support from the Ford Foundation, New York Community Trust, Revson Foundation, DeCamp Foundation, Park Foundation, Knight Foundation, Brooklyn Community Foundation, Nation Institute and Fund for Investigative Journalism. Thomas was invited to the White House, gave a keynote TEDx talk, hosted State Department delegations from Japan, China, Lebanon and elsewhere.
A native of Stone Mountain, Ga., Mark was the first black editor of the University of Georgia’s daily newspaper, has published two books of poetry and is a graduate of Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. He is a co-organizer for the New York Online News Association, serves on the board for the CUNY Center for Community and Ethnic Media and teaches public management at CUNY’s School of Professional Studies.
Murphy, who joined City Limits as investigations editor in 2007 after stints at the Hartford Advocate, CBSNews.com and the Village Voice, has been editor-in-chief since 2010.
