HARLEM, N.Y., Feb. 12, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — The New York Amsterdam News (AmNews), one of America’s oldest and most influential Black newspapers continues its unfolding renaissance with the hiring of distinguished journalist and author Aaron Foley as our new News Editor.
Foley, originally from Detroit, is the author of the critically acclaimed novel Boys Come First and joins the AmNews from the PBS NewsHour, where he served as a senior digital editor for its newly formed Communities Initiative. In his new role, Foley will be instrumental in directing our news coverage and helping to transform our print and digital products.
“I’ve been aware of the longstanding impact and the boundless potential of the Black press for nearly my entire life, having watched my mother climb the ranks at the Michigan Chronicle, Detroit’s oldest Black newspaper, as a child,” Foley said. “I’m excited for this next chapter in my own journalism career, at a time when more Black journalists are needed more than ever before to not only add to the living historical record of Black life New York and beyond, but to make sure our voices are heard and our stories are being told,” he added.
“I am thrilled to welcome a journalist of Aaron’s passion, commitment, and talent to our newsroom,” said AmNews Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Elinor R. Tatum. “Aaron’s accomplishments as an editor are outstanding, and I look forward to what he will add to the enormous growth that we have undertaken over the past few years.
Before joining us, Foley was the first director of CUNY’s Black Media Initiative at the Center for Community Media at the Newmark Graduate School of Journalism; a
John S. Knight Journalism Fellow at Stanford University and the first chief storyteller for Detroit. As chief storyteller, a first-of-its-kind role in city government, Foley established a team of writers, videographers and photographers covering news and features from Detroit’s 200-plus neighborhoods on both city cable and an all-new digital site.
The AmNews is also excited to announce the promotion of Investigative Editor Damaso Reyes to the position of Executive Editor, where he will oversee the newsroom’s editorial operations. Reyes will retain oversight of the paper’s Blacklight investigative unit of which he is the founding editor.
“I am honored to be entrusted to help lead the storied and essential institution that is the New York Amsterdam News, the place where my career in journalism began,” said Reyes, who has been a contributor to the paper for more than 25 years before becoming Investigative Editor in 2022. “Over the past two years we have come a long way and I’m looking forward to leading the continuing growth that will ensure that our historic newspaper continues to deliver its essential journalism for another 114 years,” he added.
Previous assignments and projects have taken him to countries including Rwanda, Iraq, Indonesia, Tanzania and throughout the United States and Europe. He is a Fulbright specialist and is the recipient of several awards and grants including Arthur F. Burns and Holbrooke Fellowships from the International Center for Journalists; a Knight-Luce Fellowship from the USC Annenberg School of Journalism; an Immigration Reporting Fellowship from the French American Foundation and grants from the Solutions Journalism Network, the Fund for Investigative Journalism and is currently a Media Transformation Challenge fellow at the Poynter Institute.
“The hiring of Aaron Foley as AmNews News Editor and the very deserved promotion of Damaso Reyes to AmNews Executive Editor reflect the past two years of ongoing groundbreaking growth and transformation of this historic Black newspaper, serving the nation’s largest Black and brown community. These editorial and business operations transformations will further bolster our award-winning journalism. What is remarkable, that in this decades-long era of unprecedented challenge to America’s local newsrooms, leaving fully 30% of all local news organizations shuttered, Amsterdam News and its publisher, Elinor Tatum, set course on a highly successful strategy of reinvention and transformation – emerging stronger than ever,” said Siobhan “Sam” Bennett, President and Chief Revenue Officer of the newspaper. “These two exceptional journalists will continue the work of serving our readership and creating award winning journalism,” she added.
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SOURCE New York Amsterdam News
