Stern named WSJ editor of strategic initiatives

Wall Street Journal managing editor Gerard Baker sent out the following announcement to the staff on Thursday:

I’m delighted to announce that Gabriella Stern will assume a new role as Editor, Strategic Initiatives, tasked to help frame priorities and drive new projects designed to expand our global reach.  In her new role, Gabby will work closely with staff around the world to define, strengthen and extend our presence in English language, local-language and overseas news initiatives – for both institutional and consumer audiences. In the US and overseas she will help lead partnerships with our News Corp. siblings as well as third parties to find new ways to bring our expanding products to a broader audience.  As a Deputy Managing Editor of the Journal, Gabby will report to me.

Gabby is uniquely qualified to take on this new pivotal role in the global development of Dow Jones.  Her career in journalism began at age 11 when she edited her school’s newspaper, a mimeographed, stapled creation. After graduating from Yale with a degree in English, she joined the Omaha World-Herald, earning the distinction of being the first to report that actress Debra Winger was living with then-Gov. Bob Kerrey in the governor’s mansion in Lincoln, Neb., in 1984. Armed with a Master’s degree in political science, she joined the Journal’s Pittsburgh bureau in 1991, becoming the Detroit bureau’s deputy bureau chief three years later. After a few years in New York as a News Editor, she joined Dow Jones Newswires where she was senior editor for Europe, the Middle East and Africa and then senior editor for Asia-Pacific.  Upon her return to New York, she spent three years as senior editor on the new “Hub” and as managing editor of DJFX Trader. As a deputy managing editor of the Journal’s Digital Network since autumn 2012, she has worked on verticals, email newsletters, redesign, WSJ Startup of the Year, and tended to geeky matters involving analytics, search, hyperlinks, URLs and tech readiness.

Please join me in congratulating Gabby on her new role.