Wirecutter hires Shy as editorial director

Wirecutter editor in chief Ben Frumin sent out the following on Wednesday:

I’m delighted to announce that Leta Shy is joining Wirecutter as an editorial director!

Leta is an exceptionally talented editorial leader. She has had a long and decorated career as a health and fitness journalist, including at Condé Nast, where she had a seven-year run at SELF that culminated in her ascension to editor-in-chief.

She’s also the rare journalistic leader who has held executive-level jobs on the business side. She was recently the senior vice president and group GM overseeing beauty and style at brands like InStyle, Shape, and Brides, giving her a deep understanding of all aspects of our industry and business.

This is a big moment for Wirecutter. As I shared in January, we’ve had a tremendous run over the last five years. We’ve added nearly 50 journalists to our newsroom. Our audience has tripled. And we’ve stepped into several new categories, expanded many existing ones, and experimented with many kinds of new journalistic initiatives.

But there’s so much more to come as we continue to innovate in 2024 and beyond.

We have an ambitious strategy for growth and new journalistic adventures. We must lean into initiatives that help us create deeper, more direct connections with the readers we serve, particularly as our industry faces challenging headwinds.

Leta’s hire — one of more than 20 new journalism jobs we’re creating this year — will further propel our strategy.

Leta will report to me and sit on our editorial leadership team, alongside Christine Cyr Clisset, Jason Chen, and Lauren Sullivan; she will oversee our deals, gifts, style, beauty, health, fitness, baby/kid, and travel/outdoors coverage.

Leta is based in Los Angeles. She starts with us on April 29.

— Ben