WSJ’s Pulitzer win, LA Mag’s new EIC and Nexstar’s San Diego buyout: TBN Ticker for May 12

This week’s ticker features Wall Street Journal reporters who brought back a Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting. The Los Angeles Magazine also has a new editor in chief Shirley Halperin. Read on about Nexstar’s acquisition of San Diego TV station for $35 million. Read on about three more EIC appointments at States Newsroom, CalMatters and Thrillist.

Wall Street Journal bags a Pulitzer win… A Pulitzer Prize was awarded to the staff of the Wall Street Journal in the category of investigative reporting for accountability reporting on financial conflicts of interest among officials at 50 federal agencies that revealed officials who traded stocks they regulated and other ethical violations. Journal reporters Rebecca Ballhaus, Brody Mullins, John West, Coulter Jones, Joe Palazzolo, James V. Grimaldi, James Benedict, Michael Siconolfi and Chad Day worked on the “Capital Assets” series.

Halperin is LA Mag’s new EIC… Shirley Halperin has joined Los Angeles Magazine as editor in chief. Recently, she served as executive editor of Variety. “I am honored to join the Los Angeles team and continue the magazine’s legacy of top-notch features, striking covers, and of-the-moment dispatches about the food, fashion, entertainment and culture of L.A.,” Halperin said. “It is a privilege to continue the rich editorial leadership of Los Angeles, a legacy title which has always found the perfect words to describe the beauty and whimsy of this blended metropolis we call home.” Previously, she has served as a music editor and news director at Billboard. She also worked as a music editor at The Hollywood Reporter and as a senior writer at Entertainment Weekly.

Nexstar’s $35 million San Diego purchase… Nexttv.com reports: “Nexstar Media Group said it agreed to acquire the assets of KUSI San Diego from McKinnon Broadcasting Co. and Channel 51 of San Diego for $35 million. KUSI is an independent station now, but Nexstar plans to make it an affiliate of The CW when that affiliation becomes available. Tegna’s KFMB, a CBS affiliate, currently carries The CW programming on a digital subchannel. ‘KUSI-TV’s established local news operations serving viewers and advertisers across the San Diego community is a perfect fit with our station group and existing San Diego operations at KSWB-TV,’ said Tom Carter, Nexstar’s president and chief operating officer.” Read more here.

CalMatters appoints Kristen Go as EIC… Nonprofit news organization CalMatters has hired Kristen Go as editor in chief. She is set to begin on May 30. Commenting on her new role, Go said, “CalMatters has consistently played an important role in impacting the lives of Californians. I’m thrilled to continue building on the great work, growing its presence around the state and working with our media partners to hold the powerful accountable and create a better California.” She will join from USA Today where she recently served as VP and executive editor of news and initiatives. Before that, she held the posts of managing editor of news and executive editor of news and initiatives. She has also worked at the San Francisco Chronicle, The Arizona Republic and The Denver Post. She has served as a guest speaker and judge for contests including the Goldsmith Awards and the Pulitzer Prizes. Go has a B.A. from the University of Nevada-Reno.

States Newsroom has a new EIC for West Va….Leann Ray will join States Newsroom as editor in chief of its West Virginia branch. Recently, she was at the Charleston Gazette-Mail, where she worked for more than eight years. She also worked as a copy editor at the Charleston Gazette. Ray has a bachelor’s and master’s degree from West Virginia University, where she was editor in chief of the student paper, The Daily Athenaeum.

Bloomberg taps Ganatra to cover economics… Elina Ganatra has joined Bloomberg’s economics team as a reporter. Previously, she freelanced and was an assistant producer at Podmaters, a podcast production company that provides news about news, politics, culture and entertainment. She also served as a radio assistant and output manager at Pulse Radio. Ganatra graduated from The London School of Economics and Political Science.

Sanasie’s new role at CoinDesk… Jennifer Sanasie is now a news anchor and producer at CoinDesk. Recently, she served as an on-air host of “The Hash,” CoinDesk’s daily crypto news show. She has also served as head of communications and multimedia advisor at blockchain service provider Game7 and has worked at CryptoVantage as a video producer and host. Sanasie has a B.A. from the University of Guelph in Canada and a MBA from the University of Toronto Rotman School of Management. She also has a master’s in law from the University of Toronto.

Yahoo Finance hires an anchor… Diane King Hall has joined Yahoo Finance as an anchor. Previously, she worked as a correspondent at CBS News and served as a fill-in-anchor for its “Morning News.” Before that, Hall was a business anchor and reporter at Spectrum, where she anchored live hourly market hits from the New York Stock Exchange. She also freelanced for CNN and the BBC, and contributed to Thomson Reuters.

CNBC appoints Tan Asia-Pacific editor… CNBC has hired Clement Tan as Asia-Pacific senior correspondent to cover economics and markets, bases in Singapore. Recently, he had been working as a subject tutor at Anglo-Chinese Junior College in Singapore. He also worked as a China correspondent at Bloomberg News, where he covered China’s airlines, aerospace and other industrial sectors. He served as an Asia desk news assistant and China stocks correspondent at Thomson Reuters. He was a fellow at the Los Angeles Times and interned at The Atlantic. Tan graduated from National University of Singapore and has a master’s degree from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

Another international hire… Rest of World has hired Caiwei Chen as its China reporter. Her reporting reporting on the rapidly changing Chinese internet has appeared in Wired, Protocol, South China Morning Post, SupChina, and Radii. She has regularly contributed to Chaoyang Trap, a critically acclaimed Substack newsletter that focuses on everyday lives on China’s internet. Chen graduated from University of Colorado-Denver and China Agricultural University in Beijing before going on to Columbia University for an M.A.

Insider reporter Perlberg laid off… Insider media reporter Steven Perlberg has been laid off. He had been with Business Insider and Insider since 2020. Previously, he was a freelancer based in Berlin writing about media, politics, business, culture, and other things. He has also worked at Business Insider, BuzzFeed and The Wall Street Journal, where he covered digital media, marketing and advertising. He interned at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, where he covered the health beat, and at ThinkProgress, where he wrote about politics.

Bickel joins AP as a video journalist… Joshua Bickel has joined the Associated Press as a photo journalist to cover the intersection of agriculture and climate change, focused on the Midwest. Since May 2012, Bickel has been working as a freelance photographer. He also worked as a photo journalist at The Columbus Dispatch and was a chief photographer at ThisWeek Community Newspapers. He has won numerous awards for photography, including National Headliner Awards for spot news and single-day photography, and Pictures of the Year International’s Award of Excellence for a portrait series. Bickel has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Kansas and a master’s degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia.

The Independent’s international move… The Independent has tapped Bel Trew to serve as chief international correspondent, based in Europe. In her new role, she will report on Ukraine and global stories. Previously, Trew served as an international correspondent, based in Beirut. There, she covered happenings across the Middle East since the start of the Arab Spring. She served as a Cairo-based reporter for The Times, where she covered the Middle East and North African region, focused on Libya, Egypt and the Gulf. Trew graduated from the University of Cambridge.

…another EIC announcement… Lindsay Schrupp has joined Vox as editor in chief of Thrillist. Previously, she served as executive editor at MEL Magazine. In her new role, Schrupp will oversee the editorial organization and partner with Amana Kludt, group publisher of Eater, Popsugar, Punch, and Thrillist. “She will be responsible for the publication’s reporting, storytelling, and service journalism across all formats, audience growth and engagement, and brand expansion,” reports Vox. Schrupp served as editor in chief and then as head of content strategy at the Courier Newsroom. She also worked at Vice for more than four years. Schrupp graduated from the University of Washington.

Duster becomes race and equality reporter at CNN… Chandelis R. Duster, a breaking news reporter at CNN Politics has taken on the role of race and equality reporter. Duster has covered several beats at the network, including agriculture, justice, Congress, White House and campaigns. Prior to joining CNN, Duster worked at NBC News in various roles, including news desk assistant. Previously, she also assisted Politico Journalism Institute students with writing stories during the week-long intensive program. Duster has a bachelor’s degree from Virginia Commonwealth University and a master’s degree from American University.

Mariam Ahmed is Talking Biz News’ content correspondent. For tips on the Friday TBN Ticker, email her at mariam@talkingbiznews.com or connect with her on LinkedIn.