Gabriel Escobar has been promoted to SVP and editor of The Philadelphia Inquirer.
A Colombian-born journalist, he is the first Latino editor in The Inquirer’s 191-year history, and in his new role, he’ll be one of the highest-ranking Latinos at a U.S. news organization.
Escobar will be overseeing the paper’s news operations during a difficult time, as the company’s journalists work remotely and the pandemic has caused serious revenue losses that prompted newsroom downsizing.
A former foreign correspondent, he was the newsrooms’ second in command since 2017, when he was elevated to editor and VP. He steps into the top role after executive editor Stan Wischnowski resigned in June.
Escobar first joined joined the Inquirer in 2007 and worked up the management ranks. He left the paper in 2011 for a job as an editorial writer and columnist at the Dallas Morning News, but returned to Philadelphia a year later, to take over as deputy managing editor.
His career spans a number of reporter and editor roles in several newspapers in the U.S., including the Daily News in Philadelphia and the Washington Post, where he spent 16 years. During his tenure there, he was Latin America bureau chief, based in Argentina from 1999 to 2005.