October Media Moves at AP, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, & More

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October saw several big personnel announcements from some of the largest national publishers.

Among the moves were multiple international postings, promotions to editor, and hires to video roles.

Let’s recap the professional moves.

The Associated Press announces several postings across the globe

In October, AP Executive Editor Sally Buzbee spoke at Inter American Press Association’s 75th General Assembly. She discussed AP’s expansion of global faith and religion coverage to reach new audiences.

The Associated Press launched in October the revamped political podcast, “Ground Game,” hosted by Washington Bureau Chief Julie Pace. New episodes will be posted weekly through the 2020 election.

The news outlet also announced the following people moves:

• Elizabeth Kennedy was named deputy international editor, in addition to her current duties as deputy Washington bureau chief. She helps direct and coordinate reporting from different parts of the globe, including Washington, to break more news. She will continue to oversee the foreign affairs and national security team. Kennedy has been with the AP since 1999, when she joined as the New York editor.
• Gary Fields has joined AP as news editor of global religion. Fields is a veteran journalist with more than three decades of experience ranging from sports reporting to investigative journalism. Most recently, Fields served as the senior manager of content for Lutheran World Relief/IMA World Health.
• Mariam Fam is the new reporter covering Islam for the Associated Press Global Religion team, reporting from the Cairo bureau. Fam has spent the last decade reporting on the Middle East and North Africa for The Wall Street Journal, AP, and Bloomberg News, and also has authored reports on religious communities and the many ways faith intersects with politics, culture, gender issues, and conflict.
• David Biller has joined The Associated Press as news director for Brazil. He is based in the Rio de Janeiro bureau and joined AP from Bloomberg News, where he focused primarily on the Brazilian economy and government. Biller has previously worked in Mexico and Chile, covering oil and renewable energy for the Business News Americas agency while writing for magazines, including National Geographic en Español.

The New York Times welcomes new editors and adds to digital video team

The Times was among several publishers to launch a newsletter in October covering the latest updates in the House’s impeachment inquiry against President Trump.

Last week, The Times suddenly eliminated its information security director position. But throughout the rest of the month, several personnel moves were announced:

• Solana Pyne is the new director of enterprise video and leads the teams of producers and journalists on coverage across news and enterprise with a focus on original reporting. Pyne comes from Quartz, where she spent the last four years as executive producer and senior producer.
• Caroline Kim has joined the staff full-time as senior video editor. She has been with The Times Video team since April and came on board as a temp after spending time editing films, including feature documentaries and programs for PBS, HBO, and VICE.
• Adam Hargis has been promoted to publisher for T: The New York Times Style Magazine. He was previously the associate publisher for the outlet, a position he held since December 2018.
• Rich Barbieri has joined the paper as deputy business editor, effective Oct. 14. He came to The Times from CNN, where he was the executive editor of CNN Business. Barbieri had been at CNN for 12 years and before that he was managing editor of CNNMoney.
• Eleanor Barkhorn has joined Op-Ed as a technology editor. She was previously the deputy managing editor of Vox, where she helped launch a consumer culture section, The Goods. Before Vox, Barkhorn spent five years as an editor at The Atlantic.

Multiplatform and politics editors join The Washington Post

Last week, content from The Post was included in the launch of Facebook’s News tab. The outlet also recently unveiled “Launcher,” a new section focusing on video gaming, esports competitions, and gaming culture.

The Post announced in October a new generous parental leave policy for employees that includes 20 paid weeks for new parents, and launched a news reading app for TV.

The outlet also made a number of hires and promotions:

• Stu Werner has joined the desk as multiplatform editor. He comes from the Chicago Tribune, where he held editorial positions since 2001 including digital editor, copy desk chief, and senior content editor.
• Tanya Pai has also joined the desk as multiplatform editor. Pai was previously the copy chief of Vox.com, and prior to that served as the deputy managing editor and arts editor at the Washingtonian.
• Post veteran Missy Khamvongsa has been promoted to multiplatform editor for the Weekend section and will work on the entertainment portion for both print and digital. Khamvongsa has spent the past two years on the multiplatform desk as the lead editor of the Love Blog.
• Zach Purser-Brown has joined the video department as a politics editor and covers the 2020 campaign, Capitol Hill, and how Washington policy shapes our daily lives. He was most recently at Sky News in London, where he served as a senior political producer covering UK politics and Brexit.
• Mahlia Posey has joined the video department as a politics editor and also covers the 2020 campaign, Capitol Hill and Washington policy. She was previously a digital video producer at PBS NewsHour, where she served as a digital video producer.

Bloomberg fills positions covering breaking news, the environment, and more

Last week, Bloomberg Media announced it will not sponsor Saudi Arabia’s “Davos in the Desert” conference. This is the second year Bloomberg and other media properties — including CNN, The New York Times, and The Financial Times — have declined to serve as media sponsors for the event.

It also launched a successful career development newsletter for Gen Z and millennial job-seekers and made a few career announcements of its own:

• After three months on the Consumer Team covering restaurants and retail as an intern, Olivia Rockeman has joined the Breaking News division of Bloomberg as a full-time reporter of data-driven news. She is a recent graduate of University of California-Davis and has spent the past three years at The California Aggie, Cal-Davis’s student newspaper.
• Ellen Gilmer has joined Bloomberg Environment as a reporter covering environmental law issues. She comes from E&E News, where she most recently served as the legal editor and covered environmental litigation, federal courts, the Justice Department, and judicial nominations.
• Siraj Datoo is the new weekend editor at Bloomberg’s Singapore bureau. Datoo relocated from the newswire’s London office, where he served as the digital news editor since 2016. Prior to that, Datoo worked for BuzzFeed UK as politics reporter and co-founded The Student Journals, a platform for students interested in writing.
• Bloomberg has moved Sonali Basak to a new cross-platform position as a finance reporter within the broadcast group. She will focus on breaking news and finance, while honing her broadcast presence. Basak joined Bloomberg as an intern in 2014 and has since demonstrated a knack for breaking news. Most recently, her focus was on the heart of Wall Street.

The Wall Street Journal names editors for spot news and social media

The Journal is among the media properties to reach an agreement with Facebook to have its content appear on the newly launched news tab.

During his recent testimony before the House Committee on Financial Services, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg explained the social media platform’s return to news delivery: “I think there’s an opportunity within Facebook and our services to build a dedicated surface — a tab within the apps, for example – where people who really want to see high-quality, curated news —  not just social content, but from high-quality publishers — could go and consume that content.”

WSJ also announced the following personnel moves in October:

• WSJ hired Sarah Toy as energy reporter. She was previously a reporter at MarketWatch and covered health and media. Toy is a recent graduate of Boston University and has interned at The Journal and USA Today.
• Karen Langley has joined the paper as a reporter on the Markets team, covering stocks. Langley recently completed her MBA from Columbia University and served as a reporting intern for Barron’s.
• Robert Barba is the new spot news editor for the Americas at Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal. He most recently served as the interim spot news chief for 16 months and previously worked for Bankrate and American Banker.
• Sorayah Zahir is the new social media editor at The Wall Street Journal. She is a recent graduate of the University of Texas at Arlington and completed an internship at The Journal. Zahir also has served as a social media coordinator at the Allies in Youth.

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Rocky Parker works in Audience Relations at PR Newswire. Check out her previous posts for Beyond Bylines and connect on LinkedIn. When she’s not working, Rocky typically can be found cooking, binge watching a new show, or playing with her puppy, Hudson.