Politico hires Zak of CNN Business to be head of newsletters

Politico Editorial Director of Strategy and Operations Alexandra Manzano, Editor-in-Chief Matt Kaminski and Executive Editor of Platforms and Operations Joe Schatz sent out the following on Thursday:

Each month, this newsroom publishes thousands of unique newsletter editions that reach millions of readers. Politico has long been an industry leader in newsletters (before it was cool) – and now we’ve found an excellent journalist and strategist to help us double down on innovation and expedite growth.

Please join us in welcoming Elana Zak as Head of Newsletters. Elana joins the Content Strategy and Innovation team after five years at CNN and will report to Ali Manzano.

In this newly created role, Elana will work across the newsroom to strengthen content strategy and forge best practices for our expansive newsletter enterprise. She’ll identify opportunities for experimentation and work to evolve existing newsletters and launch new ones. Elana will develop strategies for retention, growth and deeper audience engagement in partnership with our Engagement and Analytics teams as well as the Marketing and Product departments. She’ll also work closely with the Universal News and Production desks to ensure our operations are smart and sustainable.

In partnership with newsletter writers and editors, the CSI team, Lily Mihalik and our Product and Tech departments, Elana will lead our forthcoming newsletter redesign project to modernize our visual strategy, add new storytelling tools and create more efficient processes.

Most recently, Elana was the Senior Editor of Programming at CNN Business where she launched a number of new products, including a personalized business news app and the CNN Business Nightcap newsletter. She managed CNN Business’ digital presence across platforms and worked with CNN’s homepage teams on breaking news events, sponsorships, and push alerts.

Previously, Elana led social media efforts at Stat, Boston Globe Media’s life sciences site, and was an audience engagement editor at The Wall Street Journal. She is an Adjunct Professor at the Newmark School of Journalism at the City University of New York and New York University. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communication and a master’s degree from Goldsmiths College, University of London.

She starts Tuesday, August 3.

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