Arizona journalist to run Reynolds business news bureau

A veteran Arizona journalist has been named founding director of a business reporting program at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Christina Leonard, a reporter and editor at The Arizona Republic for the past 17 years, is leading the Cronkite School’s Reynolds Business Bureau, a professional program where students produce daily coverage of business and economics for regional and national media outlets. The bureau was established through a $1 million grant from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation.

“The Donald W. Reynolds Foundation is pleased that the Reynolds Business Bureau will provide real world experience for business journalism students at the Cronkite School,” Reynolds Foundation President Steve Anderson said in a statement. “This program compliments and expands upon the already excellent educational opportunities for journalism students interested in focusing on business reporting and economic topics.”

Leonard has held a number of leadership roles at the Republic and azcentral.com, including assistant business editor and editor-in-chief of two business magazines, Arizona Woman and bizAZ. Most recently, she was the Republic’s Phoenix-West Valley regional editor and also has served as Phoenix editor, state politics and government editor and night city editor.

At the Republic, Leonard played an integral role in a number of initiatives, including the paper’s technology guide and AZ Fact Check, a service that examines the accuracy of statements by politicians, partisan groups and government agencies. She was the lead editor on the recent coverage of Phoenix’s pension-reform measure and helped lead the Republic’s efforts to transition to a mobile newsroom.