Sam Sifton, the Times’ dining critic and a former editor of both dining and the culture section, has been named the new national editor for the paper by the executive editor, Jill Abramson. Ms. Abramson also named Adam Bryant, a deputy on the national desk,  the new features editor.

Her memo to staff is below:

Sam Sifton will be our new National editor. From his star runs at Dining and Culture, we all know that Sam is a superb editor who brings infectious energy and a host of original ideas, digital and print, to everything he touches. Correspondents and critics adore him. So who better to fill the shoes of Rick Berke? Sam’s background here isn’t hard news, but we all saw the newsiness and urgency he brought to the Culture report. He takes over a superb desk that flawlessly handles the fastest-breaking and challenging news stories. This will be very sad news to his devoted fans as our brilliant dining critic, but Sam, a lover of regional food, looks forward to dining adventures with the National correspondents. It will be thrilling to watch him apply his editing and writing talents to the National report.

Adam Bryant will be Senior Editor for Features, with his central focus reviving our How We Live group. I’ve long wanted to reconstitute the group as it existed in its early years with a cadre of strong reporters who aim for the front page and feature section fronts. How We Live is defined broadly and should connect to key areas of our news coverage, like joblessness, technology and family life. Adam, who has been the graceful hands behind some of our most important national and business stories over the last years, will work closely with Assistant Managing Editor Rick Berke, who oversees our features, in conceptualizing and editing sharp and grabby pieces across our sections and platforms.

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