The Poynter Institute, a global leader in journalism excellence, has announced the appointments of two senior leaders who will help Poynter advance its mission to strengthen journalism and democracy.
Sitara Nieves, an accomplished journalist and news executive who has been on the Poynter faculty since 2021, is the new vice president for teaching and organizational strategy. Nieves will oversee Poynter’s professional development programs and set strategy and curriculum for journalism teaching at the institute, at client organizations and online.
Sitara Nieves is Poynter’s vice president for teaching and organizational strategy.
Jennifer Orsi, a distinguished journalist and leader in the realm of local news, becomes senior director for publishing and local news initiatives. Orsi will oversee Poynter’s digital publishing, public events, audience engagement and local news initiatives.
Jennifer Orsi is Poynter’s senior director for publishing and local news initiatives. (Photo by Joey Clay)
Poynter President Neil Brown announced the appointments, saying “These outstanding journalism leaders will help Poynter deepen its impact on journalism and democracy. Sitara and Jennifer bring a combination of real-world experience and forward-thinking energy to advancing Poynter’s place at the crossroads where journalists and citizens connect. Their appointments reflect an expansion of our core mission of teaching journalists, and a renewed commitment to publishing stories about the media and conducting more public-facing events.”
Brown said Nieves’ role is an expanded investment in Poynter’s teaching and reflects interest not just from individuals, but from organizations seeking innovative and effective strategies for the changing journalism marketplace. She directs Poynter’s executive leadership programs, working with executives from newsrooms across the country in setting vision and strategy for their organizations, managing change, and prioritizing talent retention and growth.
Nieves came to Poynter after nine years at Marketplace, where she held various executive roles leading the newsroom, product and digital teams. She also launched a podcasting division and for several years was a senior and executive producer for the acclaimed Marketplace radio show featuring Kai Ryssdal.
Before joining Marketplace, Nieves spent four years at WNYC, worked as a multimedia journalist for The Economist and taught audio storytelling at Columbia University. Nieves has also coordinated Poynter’s Table Stakes change management program, has been the co-lead of its Executive Leadership Summit, has conducted custom teaching for a range of newsrooms, and taught in the Women’s Leadership academies.
“This appointment is the centerpiece of a commitment to Poynter teaching, and it reflects our growth in working with journalists and news media organizations to strengthen journalism’s essential place in serving communities,” Brown said.
Orsi’s newly created role includes overseeing coverage of the news industry and other publishing on Poynter.org, public thought leadership events and audience engagement efforts in a unified way to grow Poynter’s reach and influence. She will also lead an exploration of how Poynter can best strengthen local news beyond its teaching programs.
“Someone of Jennifer’s extensive background in local journalism will help us be more assertive in partnering with nonprofits and local newsrooms on projects to strengthen service to local communities and trust in local news,” Brown said.
Before joining Poynter, Orsi was executive editor of the Sarasota (Florida) Herald-Tribune and vice president of content, overseeing 21 Gannett-owned newspapers with more than 350 journalists in Florida and Georgia. Previously, she had an extensive career at the Poynter-owned Tampa Bay Times, starting as a reporter and rising to become the first woman to hold the sole title of managing editor. Orsi oversaw award-winning journalism at the Times and also served on the Board of Directors of Florida Trend magazine, as president of the Florida Society of News Editors and as a Pulitzer Prize juror. Orsi also previously worked as director of marketing content and communications for a global asset management subsidiary of Raymond James Financial. She is a graduate of Indiana University.
Both women started their new roles in the first quarter of 2023.
About The Poynter Institute
The Poynter Institute is a global nonprofit working to address society’s most pressing issues by teaching journalists and journalism, covering the media and the complexities facing the industry, convening and community building, improving the capacity and sustainability of news organizations and fostering trust and reliability of information. The Institute is a gold standard in journalistic excellence and dedicated to the preservation and advancement of press freedom in democracies worldwide. Through Poynter, journalists, newsrooms, businesses, big tech corporations and citizens convene to find solutions that promote trust and transparency in news and stoke meaningful public discourse. The world’s top journalists and emerging media leaders rely on the Institute to learn new skills, adopt best practices, better serve audiences, scale operations and improve the quality of the universally shared information ecosystem.
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