Cheddar hires Lee as its managing editor

Business news video channel Cheddar has hired former New York Daily News managing editor Kristen Lee as its managing editor.

Editor in chief Jim Roberts sent the following message to the staff:

Friends:

I’m delighted to announce the newest member of Cheddar’s news team. She is Kristen Lee, and she’ll be our new (and first) Managing Editor.

Kristen comes to us from the New York Daily News, where she served as managing editor. As you’ll see from her background, she brings a ton of relevant experience to Cheddar’s newsroom.

As Managing Editor, Kristen will oversee all of our digital content efforts, including text-based articles, the Cheddar.com website, and our daily newsletters, including our newest addition, Need2Know. But equally important, as a senior member of Cheddar’s editorial team, Kristen will help us in our ongoing quest to improve the quality and newsworthiness of our live programming, from individual segments, to news readers and to our special programming.

Kristen spent the past six years at the New York Daily News, starting as a political reporter during the 2012 presidential election and eventually rising to managing editor.

During her tenure there she managed numerous initiatives related to growing audience and transforming the newsroom to a digital-first workflow. She worked across departments to devise content strategies, oversaw digital news projects and steered the interactive journalism team.

Before joining the Daily News, Kristen spent three years at the Associated Press as a business and finance reporter, where she covered the 2008 financial crisis in addition to the IPO market and retail and travel industries. Early in her journalism career she spent several years in Washington, D.C., writing about the business of lobbying and health policy for niche political publications.

Kristen graduated from Colby College and the Columbia School of Journalism. Originally a Jersey girl, she now lives in Park Slope.

From my very first conversation with Kristen, it was clear to me that she was poised to play a powerful and essential role in our growing news operation. She gets what we’re trying to do at Cheddar, and she has the energy, imagination and common sense we need to adapt our first-rate live television efforts onto digital platforms.

And, equally important, she’s a great person. So, please join me in welcoming Kristen to Cheddar.