Richard Allen "Rick" Stengel is an American editor, journalist and author. He was Time magazine's 16th managing editor. He has written a number of books including a collaboration with Nelson Mandela on Mandela's autobiography. Prior to taking up his role as managing editor of Time in 2006, Stengel was the president and chief executive officer of the National Constitution Center.
On September 12, 2013 Stengel announced that he would be stepping down from his role as Time's managing editor in order to serve as Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs. Stengel stepped down as Under Secretary on December 7, 2016.
Under his leadership, Time has reported on significant world events such as its coverage of the Iraq war, which he describes in an editorial as necessary in order to remind people not to "turn away", and the 2008 presidential campaign. Following the election, president-elect Barack Obama was selected by Stengel as "Person of the Year" for Obama's 14th appearance on Time's cover in 2008. Stengel writes editorials for Time, including a 2010 piece explaining their use on Time's cover of a portrait of an 18-year-old Afghan woman whose nose and ears had been cut off by the Taliban as a punishment for running away from her in-laws. For a Time cover story in December 2010, he interviewed WikiLeaks spokesperson Julian Assange over Skype, in which Assange called for the resignation of United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Stengel was listed as number 41 on Newsweek's 2010 "Power 50" list in November 2010. He also regularly appears on shows such as CNN's American Morning and MSNBC's Morning Joe to promote the magazine.
In 2012, Stengel received a News & Documentary Emmy Award for his work as executive producer on Time.com's Beyond 9/11: Portraits of Resilience and, on behalf of Time Magazine, Stengel accepted the "Magazine of the Year" award at the National Magazine Awards. In May of the same year, Stengel interviewed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a cover story of his that referred to Netanyahu as the "King of Israel". In November 2012, Stengel conducted an interview with Mohamed Morsi after he became Egypt's president. Among other coverage, the interview drew media attention for Morsi's remarks on the 1968 science fiction film Planet of the Apes.
On September 12, 2013 Stengel announced he would be leaving TIME magazine for a role as Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, the role responsible for leading “America’s public diplomacy outreach, which includes communications with international audiences, cultural programming, academic grants, educational exchanges, international visitor programs, and U.S. Government efforts to confront ideological support for terrorism,” according to the State Department’s website.
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