Inquirer Politics Reporter Heads to Time, Reshaping Coverage and NewsGuild Leadership
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
Key takeaways
- Staff shakeup: Julia Terruso, the Philadelphia Inquirer’s national politics reporter, is leaving after 13 years to join Time as its senior national political correspondent.
- New role and location: She begins Jan. 20 and will remain based in Philadelphia, strengthening Time’s national political coverage from the city that shaped much of her reporting.
- Impact on leadership: Her departure creates a leadership gap at the Inquirer’s NewsGuild, where she was elected president ahead of upcoming contract talks.
- Interim leadership: Max Marin, an investigative reporter and vice president on Terruso’s slate, will serve as interim union president with a Jan. 28 decision on permanence or another election.
- Career highlights: Terruso helped shape the 2024 presidential race coverage and contributed to the Toner Prize-winning work on Cherelle Parker’s historic mayoral election.
Table of contents
- Move to Time and New Role
- Impact on the Inquirer and the NewsGuild
- Background and Achievements
- Terruso’s Letter and the Guild Leadership
- What’s Next for the Guild
Move to Time and New Role
Julia Terruso, the Philadelphia Inquirer’s national politics reporter, is leaving the paper after 13 years to become Time magazine’s senior national political correspondent. She starts on Jan. 20 and will remain based in Philadelphia.
“She is a stellar reporter and writer with deep and varied experience covering national and local campaigns, the White House and Congress, city hall and regional policy issues,” Time executive editor Alex Altman told staff in an internal memo obtained by Axios.
Catch up quick: Terruso was key in shaping the Inquirer’s coverage of the 2024 presidential race, traveling across battleground Pennsylvania to illuminate dynamics shaping voters’ decisions. She helped lead coverage that earned the 2024 Toner Prize for Excellence in Local Political Reporting from Syracuse University’s Newhouse School for Cherelle Parker’s historic election as Philadelphia’s first woman mayor.
Impact on the Inquirer and the NewsGuild
The departure complicates leadership at the Inquirer’s union, the NewsGuild, where she was elected president ahead of contract talks. In a letter to guild members, she described the offer from Time as “unexpected” and apologized for the “disruption” to the union’s leadership. “The Guild is not one person,” she wrote, adding that the slate elected promised active, visible leadership from every member.
Background and Achievements
Terruso, a 2011 graduate of Syracuse University who cut her teeth at the Daily Orange, started at the Inquirer in 2013 after stints at the Post-Standard and the Star-Ledger in New Jersey. She took over the Inquirer’s national politics beat from Jonathan Tamari, who left in 2023 to join Bloomberg Government, cementing her as a central voice in the paper’s political coverage.
Terruso’s Letter and the Guild Leadership
In her note to NewsGuild members, Terruso emphasized collective leadership: “The Guild is not one person,” and reiterated that the election slate promised to keep every member as an active leader. This signals a pivotal moment for the union as it heads toward new contract talks and leadership transitions.
What’s Next for the Guild
Max Marin, an Inquirer investigative reporter and vice president elected on Terruso’s slate, will serve as interim union president. Members will decide on Jan. 28 whether to make him permanent or hold another election as the paper navigates this leadership transition.
For readers curious about journalism leadership and career moves, this development highlights how newsroom dynamics, coverage focus, and labor governance intersect during periods of change.
Source: https://www.axios.com/2026/01/07/scoop-philadelphia-inquirer-politics-reporter-heading-to-time
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