WSJ names Last its head of live journalism

Elena Cherney, editor of live journalism and special content at The Wall Street Journal, sent out the following announcement on Tuesday:

Dear all,

We’re pleased to announce that Kim Last will be the Journal’s new head of Live Journalism, a role she’s taking on after serving as acting editor of the team since April.

In the acting role, Kim has led the newsroom’s Live Journalism team through the transition to virtual events this spring and summer, reinventing our in-person conferences for digital audiences. She has shown herself during this challenging time to be innovative, creative and collaborative, tapping journalists across the newsroom for ideas on how to bring sessions to life and working tirelessly with business-side and newsroom colleagues to figure out how to best deliver these sessions on digital platforms, and how to use that opportunity to attract bigger and broader audiences.

Some notable successes to date: The development, with the strategy team, of a robust “Ask WSJ” and “Newsmakers Live” calendar of conversations featuring our journalists, many of which have made news; the launch of a series of regular online events for C-suite members, ranging from small group discussions to half-day forums; and a seamlessly produced WSJ Tech Health event in June, which featured Kevin Systrom, the CEO of Moderna, and Dr. Anthony Fauci. The work Kim and the team have done on these sessions sets the newsroom up for a busy fall schedule of events, including the full-day Women in the Workplace forum, the Future of Everything series, TechLive and two ambitious CEO Council meetings.

Kim joined the Journal more than two years ago as deputy editor of the Live Journalism team. Prior to that, Kim headed conference development at Vox Media, where her duties included working with the Recode and Vox.com teams, and worked as a senior editor at Fast Company. Kim also did a stint at Quartz, where she helped launch their events.

A native New Yorker, Kim studied political science and American studies at Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband.

Please join us in congratulating Kim and wishing her every success.