NPR announces two promotions

Vickie Walton-James and Ammad Omar

The following excerpt was sent out:

Colleagues:
As we continue to realign our newsroom and resources to better serve our audiences, we are pleased to announce that Vickie Walton-James will become Acting Managing Editor for News and Ammad Omar will become Chief National Editor. Vickie and Ammad will assume their new roles on July 25th.
Vickie is one of the most talented and experienced journalists in our newsroom. NPR’s Chief National Editor since 2014, she is a skilled leader who brings insight, empathy and curiosity to the job.
Ammad, most recently, has been the Deputy National Editor for the West, based in Culver City. In addition to overseeing coverage of the American West, Ammad has expertly edited two of our busiest and most consequential beats—immigration and reproductive rights.
In her new role, Vickie will help manage the daily news report alongside Managing Editor Gerry Holmes. She will report to Executive Editor Terence Samuel. During this assignment she will take over day-to-day supervision of several of our newsgathering desks from Terry — National, Washington and Culture.
As National Editor, Vickie has overseen a team of more than 50 reporters, editors and producers based in Washington and in bureaus across the country, in a tenure marked by outstanding, award-winning coverage.
Vickie joined NPR in 2008 after an impressive newspaper career. Her last job in that industry was as Senior Washington Editor for Tribune Publishing, where she coordinated the convergence of print, digital and television coverage. Before that, she was the Washington Bureau Chief for the Chicago Tribune, a post she assumed days after 9/11. Vickie began her journalism career reporting and editing at the Kansas City Star.
Ammad got his start in public radio at WBEZ in Chicago, where he worked as an intern, freelance reporter, host, producer, and editor, eventually overseeing the station’s daily news coverage.