Longtime journalist Arthur Brisbane has been appointed the next public editor of The New York Times, the paper announced today.

A blog posting broke the news on the paper's website, noting:

"The New York Times today named its next public editor, Arthur S. Brisbane, a journalist and news executive with 34 years experience, including as publisher and editor of The Kansas City Star and as reporter and editor at the Washington Post.

“Mr. Brisbane is the fourth public editor appointed by The Times. He succeeds Clark Hoyt. The public editor works outside of the reporting and editing structure of the newspaper and receives and answers questions or comments from readers and the public, principally about articles published in the paper. His opinions and conclusions are his own.”

Brisbane was also senior vice president for newspaper operations at Knight Ridder when it was taken over by McClatchy in 2006, according to the San Jose Business Journal. He received about $4.5 million in severance when the company was bought.

Brisbane signed a three-year contract with the Times, according to the newspaper. Hoyt's contract was initially for two years, with an additional year added on in 2009.