The Athletic names seven to new editorial leadership team
May 8, 2023
Posted by Mariam Ahmed
The following excerpt was sent out from The Athletic’s executive editor Steven Ginsberg:
Hi all. I’m excited to announce some changes to our newsroom leadership structure which will help us be even more indispensable to sports fans in the years to come.
The Athletic’s updated top-level leadership now includes the following new roles:
Editorial Director – Culture, Opinion and Talent Development: Lisa Wilson
Alex Kay-Jelski remains Editor-in-Chief of The Athletic in the United Kingdom and Europe and sits alongside this group to advance our International ambitions.
Lisa Wilson
Editorial Director – Culture, Opinion and Talent Development: Lisa Wilson
Lisa’s new mission is to attract the next generation of great Athletic journalists, while ensuring that all employees have fulfilling and opportunity-filled careers. She will form a tight partnership with Leon Carter and the People and Talent team, while spearheading newsroom DEI efforts, establishing best-in-class career coaching and pathing programs, fostering an inclusive culture and serving as a conduit between employees and the growth opportunities they seek throughout their careers at The Athletic. The Culture and Opinion teams will continue to report to Lisa.
The goal here is simple: get as many people as possible to engage with our stories. Right now, those efforts are spread across separate search, social and programming teams, all of which sit outside the newsroom. We’re bringing those groups together to better organize and coordinate our efforts, and also to recognize that these groups are a central part of our journalistic mission.
Claudio and his team will ensure we use all available levers to draw readers to our work. Claudio will also provide a critical voice in story development discussions, as his team’s insights-gathering means he’s often most directly attuned to what readers want.
Amy Cavenaile
Editorial Director – Design and Visuals: Amy Cavenaile
Amy’s new role positions her team directly within the newsroom and deeply acknowledges the power of design and visual journalism. Our work will only benefit from having this team fully integrated and collaborating on a daily basis with our highest-impact stories. She will oversee design across all Athletic platforms. She’ll also design and produce alternative storytelling forms that provide unique and captivating perspectives on the world of sports.
Perhaps the most ambitious and pioneering of the new roles, Craig will provide a bridge between our newsroom and commercial operations and will report to both me and Sebastian Tomich, whose title will shift to Chief Commercial and Development Officer as we strengthen our approach in the creative marketplace.
This group will encompass the North America audio, video and newsletter teams, as well as editorial operations. It will also be tasked with developing better game experiences for fans and organizing public events that grow awareness of The Athletic.
Paul Fichtenbaum
Editorial Director – Investigative, Enterprise and Standards: Paul Fichtenbaum
We’ve all seen the power of our most ambitious investigative and enterprise stories. Over the years, our stories have exposed abuse, misconduct and discrimination. We’ve taken on powerful forces and explored how race, issues of human rights and global politics have impacted the world of sports. Nearly every week, we have a story that takes readers behind the scenes of a major move or decision. Our profiles are invariably illuminating and often change perceptions of top athletes and executives. Among the first comments on these stories is almost always one that says some form of, “this is why I subscribe.”
Creating a top-level position dedicated to this aspect of our mission will allow us to deliver even more of these stories – and I’m excited to welcome Paul into this role. In addition to working with the existing team, Paul will work across the newsroom to give more people a chance to aim for these ambitious efforts. Our long term-goal is to deliver one of these stories every single day. Additionally, Paul will be in charge of upholding standards across the newsroom.
Leon has been a guiding force for The Athletic since his arrival and this new position enables him to have a greater role in all that we do. As Editor-At-Large, Leon will continue to play a leading role in talent development, while also partnering with me to help shape coverage and oversee newsroom operations. Leon will also develop and oversee The Athletic’s first internship program, which will launch in 2024 and be named after him. We anticipate that this program will help attract promising young talent who will help fulfill our editorial mission.
