Media Movers: The Atlanta Journal Constitution’s Sharif Durhams

When I attended N.C. State University, our student newspaper was a melting pot of engineering students and others who weren’t looking for a school with a stellar journalism school. Those students went to the University of North Carolina, our chief rival. Back in those days, I started hearing about an up-and-coming superstar: Sharif Durhams.

I’ve followed his career, and I’m happy to report that his star is brighter than ever. He recently took a key leadership role with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, following roles at the Washington Post, The (Raleigh) News & Observer and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Sharif is a rare find in journalism: An editor with digital chops who also understands the big picture and who strives to lead. The field needs more Sharifs.

I talked to him about what attracted him to Atlanta, the most pressing issue facing journalism and what he does for fun:

Dawn: Tell me about your new (ish) job.

Sharif: I’m the managing editor for news. That means I oversee coverage of politics, education, business, local government and breaking news. I’m also providing guidance on strategy for our digital platforms and helping to lead our newsroom through a great growth period.

Dawn: What made you want to move to Atlanta?

Sharif: I love the city and state. I lived in Atlanta for three years while working for CNN, moving away at the start of the pandemic. I came back because it’s one of the most exciting and welcoming places in the country.

Dawn: Where do you see the AJC in three years? Five years?

Sharif: The AJC will be a bigger, bolder voice in Atlanta and Georgia. The upside here is enormous.

I became an editor at The Washington Post in early 2015, a little more than a year after Jeff Bezos bought the paper. He made a massive investment in adding reporters and editors to the newsroom that led to more interesting and nuanced coverage. It led to better reporting and storytelling on the Post’s social platforms, apps, breaking news blogs and other places that aren’t the traditional wheelhouse of newsrooms. The Post has also gotten better at covering climate stories, stories about health and cultural issues, and didn’t have to make a trade-off. It’s still best in class at covering national politics.

Relative to its size, the AJC is getting a Bezos-like investment. We’ve expanded the newsroom leadership and we’re going to be adding dozens of reporters and editors. We’re beefing up coverage of Black culture, sports and food in ways that are authentic to Georgia. We are taking some of the areas like politics and investigative work where we’ve been among the best regional newsrooms in the country, and adding resources to make sure that people who want to understand those stories through video, podcasts and social media get versions of that coverage that is perfect for those platforms. And like The Post in those days, we’re not having to cut from some areas to get that growth. We’re investing and betting that subscribers will support it.

Dawn: You’ve spent much of your career at large daily newspapers. What do you like about them?

Sharif: I love the mission of serving an entire community. We have the challenge of taking one set of facts and presenting those facts to people who are going to see them differently. We also have the challenge of explaining parts of our communities to people who may live very differently.

Dawn: Still, you’ve infused your career with digital roles as well. Why did you do that?

Sharif: Since college, I thought the job of a journalist was to gather the news and information and then deliver it in the best format. If people aren’t reading, watching or listening, you haven’t finished the journalism yet.

So, you have to change your presentation to match the form. If people only see headlines on social platforms, we must make the headlines better while not making them clickbaity. If people are listening to podcasts, we must become great at that form. I’ve focused on digital because I want great journalism to be read, watched and consumed.

Dawn: What do you think is the most pressing issue facing journalism today?

Sharif: Finding a business model that can build and sustain large, local newsrooms.

Dawn: You’ve been active with the NLGJA for more than 20 years. Why have you stayed with the organization?

Sharif: I was lucky enough to serve as national president of the Association of LGBTQ+ Journalists — which is the name our group uses these days — for four years. Another former president of the organization, Jen Christensen of CNN, also lives here in Atlanta.

I’ve stayed with the association because it is rewarding. We work to make mainstream newsrooms comfortable places for people to be out and vocal about coverage, just like journalists from other backgrounds are. We also work to make sure that when newsrooms cover diverse communities, they get the facts right. Newsrooms faced the same challenges when they were fewer women leaders in the industry. They would publish stories that just made it clear the writers and editors just didn’t get it and made mistakes that women just wouldn’t make in explaining their own lives. NLGJA serves the same role in making sure news stories include nuance that reflects the experience of the people newsrooms are covering.

Dawn: You were also active with your college newspaper, even serving as the top editor. What skills did you learn then that you still use today?

Sharif: I learned to zoom out. When I was a reporter, I focused on writing and reporting my story. As an editor, even at a young age, I realized if the photos didn’t get assigned for the story, that was my problem too. It taught me early on to pay attention to the challenges of the entire newsroom.

Dawn: Tell me about the Sharif Durhams Leadership Program.

Sharif: I was the first Black editor-in-chief of the main student paper at UNC. Another Black journalist, Rob Nelson, served the year after me. And then the paper went for a number of years with all-white editors and without most racial diversity in any top roles. What students told us was they felt the newsroom had a culture that made them feel that sharing their ideas was riskier than it was for the white student journalists, that people didn’t have their backs and that they had cultural and financial burdens that their white colleagues didn’t face to the same degree.

So we created the program to provide support that ranged from giving resume reviews and career advice to creating a more supportive place to pitch stories. The program wasn’t designed to guarantee there would be a person of color as editor-in-chief. Instead, it helped to make the newsroom a place where more students of color were willing to stay long enough and to find enough success to grow into those roles.

Dawn: Instead of sticking with reporting, as many journalists do, you’ve taken on leadership roles. Who mentored you along the way?

Sharif: Two editors in Milwaukee, Marty Kaiser and George Stanley, encouraged me to come up with solutions to problems for the entire newsroom as kind of a side hustle even when I was in reporting roles. Meredith Artley and Mitra Kalita at CNN modeled the fact that they could lead with a completely different style than many other executives and succeed. While I climbed the newsroom ranks as a digital and audience journalist, Robyn Tomlin was the leader me the opportunity to lead the news side as well as managing editor of my hometown paper.

Dawn: What advice would you give to a young journalist today?

Sharif: Covering breaking news, public safety or local government for long enough to get decent at it can teach you lessons that will help you for your entire career in any newsroom. Also, keep up with industry news and trends.

Dawn: What has been the toughest career lesson that you’ve learned?

Sharif: You make fewer mistakes if you ask for help early and delegate.

Dawn: If you had not been a journalist, what career do you think you would have chosen?

Sharif: I would have tried law school and wound up with a lot more student loan debt.

Dawn: What do you do for fun?

Sharif: I love walking through neighborhoods, eating out, sitting on porches, traveling and reconnecting with my friends here.

Dawn Wotapka is a former Wall Street Journal reporter who loves to read and write. She lives in Atlanta with her husband and two children. She is a slow runner and an avid Peloton user. To submit tips for her Media Movers column,  connect with Dawn on LinkedIn.