Tragic Loss: NY Times’ Blake Hounshell, 44, Dies at 44 After Depression Battle

Before arriving at NYT in 2021, Blake Hounshell was a top editor at Foreign Policy magazine and Politico. He died on Tuesday in Washington, DC. According to a police officer, his death will be considered suicide.

However, his family has put out a statement to the publication, confirming the cause of his death as depression.

According to the family, Blake passed "after a long and courageous battle with depression."

The newspaper's editor managing editor Carolyn Ryan and editor-in-chief Joe Kahn informed workers by email of Blake's passing, and so far, people have taken to their individual platforms to mourn the 44-year-old.

The letter read, "We are deeply saddened to share the tragic news that our colleague Blake Hounshell has passed away."

Kahn and Ryan talked about how Blake was committed to his family and a friend to many others on their Washington and politics teams who had worked with him for a long time. They also added they would be in touch regarding the information on how to support his family soon.

According to The Times, Hounshell, who once resided in Washington, is survived by his wife, Sandy Choi, and children, David and Astrid.

Hounshell, a Pittsburgh native, and Yale University alum, started his media career after going to Cairo to study Arabic. To cover the Arab upheavals, he returned to Cairo in February 2011 after joining Foreign Policy magazine in 2006.

His past and current coworkers and fellow journalists worldwide expressed their shock and grief in a public outpouring.

During their time working together at Foreign Policy and Politico, Susan Glasser, a staff writer at The New Yorker, recalled Hounshell as a "friend, partner, and journalistic inspiration for many years,

While Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania noted;

Before his passing, Hounshell oversaw the renowned On Politics newsletter while working for The Times. He spent eight years at Politico before working for the magazine, where he held positions including managing editor for politics and Washington news, director of the digital editorial, and editor-in-chief of the Politico website, which he founded.

His major break came when he was hired as the managing editor of Foreign Policy in 2009 after 15 years of blogging. According to The Times, the magazine won three National Magazine Awards while he was the editor.