The staff of The Daily — Rupert Murdoch’s new iPad newspaper that launches tomorrow — bring a wide range of print, online and broadcast experience, mostly at national media outlets, according to details listed on their Twitter and LinkedIn accounts.
A few of the top names at The Daily have leaked out since rumors of the project began surfacing last fall. Jesse Angelo, Richard Johnson and Sasha Frere-Jones have all been highlighted in the media.
But reports indicate the publication will have about 100 employees and a budget of $30 million. That leaves dozens of mostly anonymous others involved in the operation. So, who are they? Thanks to information available in their Internet profiles, I’ve documented 55 below.
If The Daily does have 100 staffers (it is not clear whether that number refers only to full-time employees only or includes part-timers, contractors and freelancers), I have found about half — not enough to provide a complete picture of staff structure and coverage strategies. However, their self-reported titles paint some broad outlines.
According to published reports, The Daily will have offices in New York and Los Angeles. Aside from an editor and three managing editors, the newsroom also includes an ideas reporter, investigative reporter, technology editor, opinions editor, culture editor, art director and a national sports columnist.
Many of the writers use the title “reporter/producer,” and others simply call themselves “reporters.” I don’t know if that reflects different job descriptions or just individual preference. In either case, that title usually indicates publishing and content creation responsibilities. Similarly, the other job titles shown below are all lower-cased as they reflect published reports or self-descriptions, rather than official company documents.
A review of The Daily staff’s resumes, mostly gathered from LinkedIn, provides some further clues.
Previous employers include a few News Corp. properties, such as The New York Post, The (U.K.) Sun, The Wall Street Journal, and The (Brisbane) Courier-Mail. But the majority of staffers came from other national media outlets, including ABC News, the Associated Press, The Atlantic, AOL News, E! Networks, The Daily Beast, Forbes, The New Yorker, The New York Times, Salon, and Time.com.
There are a number of former and current bloggers listed, especially among the reporters, possibly an indication that The Daily intends to publish content more frequently than just “daily.”
LEADERSHIP
- Jesse Angelo, executive editor
(Previously/other affiliations: The New York Post) - Greg Clayman, head of business operations
@Clayman
(Previously/other affiliations: Viacom)
- David Brinker, senior vice president of
business development/
operations
@dbrinker
(Previously/other affiliations: Grandparents.com) - Mike Nizza, managing editor
@mikenizza
(Previously/other affiliations: The New York Times, AOL News and The Atlantic) - Steve Alperin, managing editor
(Previously/other affiliations: ABC News) - Pete Picton, managing editor
(Previously/other affiliations: The Sun)
ADDITIONAL EDITORS & MANAGERS
- Abigail Jones, Web editor & social media manager
@AbigailDJ - Richard Johnson, editor/reporter – Los Angeles
@HeadlineJohnson
(Previously/other affiliations: New York Post) - Jebediah Reed, news editor
@jebediahreed
(Previously/other affiliations: The Week, Radar) - Patrick Garrity, news editor
@PatrickJGarrity
(Previously/other affiliations: Burlington Free Press) - Elizabeth Semrai, news editor
(Previously/other affiliations: Grandparents.com, Byline Magazine) - Hasani Gittens, news editor
@hgitty
(Previously/other affiliations: NBCNewYork.com) - Elisabeth Eaves, opinions editor
@ElisabethEaves
(Previously/other affiliations: Forbes) - Sasha Frere-Jones, culture editor
@sfj
(Previously/other affiliations: The New Yorker) - Claire Howorth, deputy culture editor
@clairehoworth
(Previously/other affiliations: The Daily Beast, Vanity Fair) - Peter Ha, technology editor
@ThePeterHa
(Previously/other affiliations: Time.com) - Danny Dumas, deputy technology editor
@dannydoom
(Previously/other affiliations: Wired) - Chris D’Amico, sports editor
(Previously/other affiliations:The Star-Ledger, Chicago Sun-Times) - Chris Strauss, associate sports editor/producer
(Previously/other affiliations: Men’s Fitness) - Erik Lief, Associate sports editor/producer
@ELief_TheDaily
(Previously/other affiliations: AP, ESPN) - Dan MacTiernan, product & program panager
@dmact
(Previously/other affiliations: The Wall Street Journal) - Gabriel Dance, art director for news
@gabrieldance
(Previously/other affiliations: The New York Times) - Chris Wilson, news editor
(Previously/other affiliations: New York Post, Maxim) - James Parziale, associate sports editor
@JamesParziale
(Previously/other affiliations: New York Daily News)
WRITERS, REPORTERS, CORRESPONDENTS & COLUMNISTS
- Josh Bernstein, investigative reporter
@jbreports - Bill Bradley, reporter
@BillBradley3
(Previously/other affiliations: Vanity Fair) - Benjamin Carlson, ideas reporter
@bfcarlson
(Previously/other affiliations: The Atlantic) - Dan Wolken, national sports columnist
@DanWolken
(Previously/other affiliations: The Commercial Appeal) - Avi Zenilman, business reporter
@avizenilman
(Previously/other affiliations: The New Yorker, Politico) - Shannon O’Meara, arts & life reporter
@shannonomeara
(Previously/other affiliations: OurNews.com, The London Paper) - Tracey John, reporter
@TraceyJohn - Molly Young, reporter
@magicmolly
(Previously/other affiliations: The Economist) - Erin Ade, video correspondent
@erinade
(Previously/other affiliations: WZBN-TV 25) - Heather Havrilesky, staff critic
@hhavrilesky
(Previously/other affiliations: Salon.com) - Charles Curtis, sports reporter
@charlescurtis82
(Previously/other affiliations: ESPN The Magazine) - Carmel Melouney, reporter/producer
@carmelmelouney
(Previously/other affiliations: Sunday Telegraph) - Ashley Kindergan, reporter/producer
@akindergan
(Previously/other affiliations: The Record, Bergen, N.J.) - Alex Dickinson, reporter/producer
@Alex_Dicko
(Previously/other affiliations:The Courier Mail, Brisbane, Australia) - Justin R Silverman, reporter/producer
@justinrocket
(Previously/other affiliations: UrbanDaddy, New York Post) - Katie Drummond, reporter/producer – health, science and national defense
@katiedrumm
(Previously/other affiliations: AOL News) - Soo Youn, reporter/producer – daily gossip column
(Previously/other affiliations: E! Networks, New York Daily News) - Elizabeth Saab, reporter/producer
(Previously/other affiliations: FiOS1 News, NY1 News) - Deborah Hastings, reporter/producer
(Previously/other affiliations: AOL News, The Associated Press) - Mike Cronin, reporter – technology, science, cybersecurity, space and the military
@michaelccronin
(Previously/other affiliations: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, The Arizona Republic) - Joshua Hersh, reporter
@joshuahersh
(Previously/other affiliations: The New Yorker, the National) - Lauren Bans, reporter
@LaurenBans
(Previously/other affiliations: Slate’s XX, Inc. Magazine) - Hunter Walker, reporter – Los Angeles
@hunterw
(Previously/other affiliations: New York Observer, TheWrap.com) - Michelle Ruiz, reporter
@michelleruiz - Kayleen Schaefer, reporter
@kayleener - John Walters, sports writer
@jdubs88
ADDITIONAL STAFF
- Alvin Patrick, senior producer
@AlvinTheDaily - Derek Rose, copy editor
@derek7272 - Courtney Mazzone, graphic designer
@CourtneyMazzone - Kenroy George, design tech
@kengeo - Matthew Timpanelli, Web production designer
@psysci - Daniel Johnson-Kim, Web production designer
@djjkim - Chavie Lieber, editorial assistant
@ChavieLieber
This incomplete list was compiled from numerous (perhaps imperfect) sources. Here’s how I created it.
I have been following news about The Daily since November via coverage in The Village Voice (part one and part two), The New York Observer, paidContent and Women’s Wear Daily. The names reported by those sites provided a starting point for the research.
The confirmation of names, titles and past employers came from a selection of websites — starting with the Twitter account of Abigail Jones, The Daily’s social media manager. I browsed through her friends and followers and recorded anyone who noted an affiliation with The Daily in their bios. I then reviewed all of the Twitter lists they had created or were part of. At least two people had lists labeled “the-daily” and “planeteers” (a reference to the project’s working name — The Daily Planet) that provided a number of confirmations and additional names.
Then I searched for each person on LinkedIn, which offered some specific titles and previous employers. In a few cases I could not locate people on Twitter or LinkedIn, or their formal positions with The Daily were not specified, so I relied on other media reports to confirm their involvement in the project and their likely titles.
This project began as a simple Twitter list meant to track the goings-on at the new publication. That list currently follows 51 people and is available here. I’ll be watching it Wednesday when The Daily is unveiled.
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