United States Agency for Global Media

Amanda Bennett sworn in as new director of the Voice of America

April 18, 2016

Washington, D.C. — Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Amanda Bennett was sworn in today as the 29^th Director of the Voice of America (VOA).

“I am happy and excited to be joining such a vital news organization,” said Bennett. “VOA has a critical role ahead as it uses all its journalistic skills and abilities to cover the stories of our country and its people, as well as serving as the only source of reliable, objective and credible news and information for a large part of the world.”

Bennett has had a distinguished career in journalism.  Most recently, she has been a contributing columnist for The Washington Post.  She served as executive editor for Bloomberg News, where she created and ran a global team of investigative reporters and editors, and also co-founded the Bloomberg News’ Women’s Project.  Bennett was editor of The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Lexington Herald-Leader.  She also served as managing editor/projects for The Oregonian in Portland.

Bennett was a longtime reporter, correspondent and editor for the Wall Street Journal.  In 1997, she shared the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting with her Wall Street Journal colleagues, and in 2001 led a team from The Oregonian to a Pulitzer Prize for Public Service.

She was a member of Pulitzer Prize Board from 2003 to 2010 and served as the Board’s co-chair in 2010.  She has also served on the boards of The Gerald Loeb Awards, the American Society of News Editors and the Fund for Investigative Journalism.

A graduate of Harvard College, Bennett is the author of six books, including “The Cost of Hope,” her memoir of the battle she and Terence Foley, her late husband, fought against his kidney cancer.  She is co-founder of TheDream.US, which provides college scholarships to the children of undocumented immigrants in the United States.

“The Board and I are thrilled to have found a world-class journalist to lead this great organization,” said John Lansing, BBG CEO. “Amanda has an excellent track record of strong and collaborative leadership. This, combined with her deep understanding of the rapidly evolving digital news marketplace, makes her uniquely qualified to lead VOA successfully into the future.  We are pleased to welcome her into our dedicated and talented VOA and BBG family.”

VOA’s Associate Director of Language Programming Kelu Chao has served as Acting VOA Director since June of last year.