• by Sara Guaglione , October 7, 2020

Stella Bugbee is stepping down as senior vice president and editor in chief of The Cut, the standalone fashion vertical of New York magazine. She will become editor-at-large at New York. 

Bugbee has led The Cut since 2012.

Remaining a senior member of the editorial team, Bugbee will work on journalism projects for both the print and digital magazine in her new role, effective immediately.

She will also develop a new flagship podcast alongside Hanna Rosin, editorial director for audio.

Bugbee will work closely with New York editor in chief David Haskell on shaping editorial strategy across the magazine, especially to grow New York’s digital subscription business. 

She will continue as an executive producer of “The Cut” weekly podcast and write a regular column about culture, fashion and politics.

Vox Media is kicking off a search for a new editor to lead The Cut. Bugbee will work with executive editor Melissa Dahl and The Cut’s senior editors to continue running the site until a new editor is hired.

In a note to staff sent Tuesday morning, Bugbee wrote: “This is a decision I’ve been mulling for a while, even before the pandemic. It was something that I thought about long and hard, discussed with David for months, and ultimately decided on doing now.”

She added: “I never expected to do this job as long as I’ve done it (527 years in Internet time), and I think it’s the right moment for someone else to take on the great challenge of running it, so that I can focus on other creative growth projects in the company.”

The Cut says it reached a record audience of over 14 million readers in June 2020.

Separately, Business Insider has named Matt Turner its co-editor in chief. Previously executive editor, Turner will now join Alyson Shontell in leading the newsroom.

“We will run the newsroom together while overseeing different parts,” Shontell wrote in a note to staff.

Turner will run the finance and strategy sides of Business Insider, while Shontell will oversee technology and related industries, as well as the business news teams and contributors.

Business Insider plans to nearly double the size of its newsroom in the next year.

“Our plans for next year are ambitious,” Shontell wrote. “We will be investing heavily in our core verticals of tech and finance to make them undeniable must-reads.”