Washington Post hires former WSJ ME Pensiero as standards editor

Washington Post executive editor Matt Murray sent out the following on Thursday:

I’m delighted to share the news that Karen Pensiero will be joining The Post in January as our Standards Editor, a new masthead position reporting to me.

Karen, the former managing editor at The Wall Street Journal, is passionate about fair, ethical and independent journalism. She spent many years as in senior Standards role at The Journal working with journalists during reporting, “final reading” the hardest-hitting stories and teaching standards and ethics to journalists around the globe. I have worked closely with her for many years and always found her to be engaged, thoughtful, helpful and passionate about engaging, impactful stories. Karen will further boost our work at The Post, which embodies the highest standards in our industry, from how we source and report, how we navigate through stories and how we seek to cultivate fairness and balance in our work.

Karen’s arrival is especially important in this era of rapid change, when the legal and political landscapes, changes in technology and the industry, and the challenges of building and deepening trust with readers and subscribers are all intensifying. Building the great work down by Liz, Carrie and Meghan, she will work closely with all of us on sourcing, general reporting hygiene, training, vetting and helping us navigate ethically the changing business landscape. She will be a valuable sounding board and champion for our work, especially on the thorniest matters. She will also be working with Jay Kennedy and other colleagues across the company.

Karen worked for 38 years at The Journal, which she left in 2023 after serving nearly six years as managing editor, where she oversaw all operations across the global newsroom. Prior to the role she assumed in Standards in 2004, she held a variety of positions throughout The Journal and its parent company, Dow Jones, including managing editor/international; Money & Markets editor of The Wall Street Journal Europe; director of corporate communications for Dow Jones; and director of Dow Jones Interactive Publishing International.

Since leaving the Journal, she has served as senior advisor to the Ethics & Journalism Initiative at New York University’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute and is on the community board for the Maine Trust for Local News, part of the National Trust for Local News. She also serves on the advisory board of the Center for Ethical Leadership in Media at the University of Texas at Austin’s Moody College of Communication, as well as the boards of the Missourian Publishing Association, the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism CUNY Foundation in New York and the Dow Jones News Fund.

Karen, a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism, will start in January and is eager to dive in with all of us. Please join me in welcoming her.

Matt