In a note to newsroom staff SVP of News Nancy Barnes made this staffing update:
I am pleased to announce that Justin Bank will be joining the NPR news leadership team as our Sr. Director for Digital News & Strategy. Justin will be responsible for working across the news division, in partnership with other departments, to set a new strategy for our approach to digital news and programming. We expect the structure and responsibility of the digital team will evolve over the course of 2020, under Justin's leadership.
Justin has extensive experience in both developing strategy and delivering results. A passionate advocate of digital news, he joined the Washington Post in 2010 as their first SEO and analytics editor. By the end of his tenure, he managed the newsroom audience team with responsibility for SEO, social media strategy, programming, and crowd-sourced storytelling. He also created a quick strike reporting team to cover breaking news, worked with leadership on new products, and helped incorporate analytics into newsroom operations.
In 2014, Justin joined the New York Times to launch and lead their first audience development team, helping oversee a 40-person group focused on digital growth operations and strategy. During his tenure there, he went on to other successful projects, including launching the service journalism-oriented vertical Smarter Living, and enhancing the ambitions of their fact-checking and misinformation lines of reporting in advance of the 2018 mid-terms.
Since leaving the Times, he's consulted for news media organizations and startups, and also worked as a coach for the Facebook sponsored Local News Accelerator, helping local publishers develop sustainable reader revenue models.
Justin began his career at the non-profit website FactCheck.org as a reporter and editor covering the 2006 and 2008 elections.
We are excited to have Justin join the NPR team, and Justin has expressed his own excitement in joining a newsroom filled with journalists he has long admired. His first day will be Jan. 13. Please extend him a warm welcome when you see him.
Nancy
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