Amanda Barrett named VP of standards, inclusion

For 176 years, The Associated Press has set the standard on standards for news organizations around the world. The authoritative and impactful role AP has played is more important than ever at a moment when trust in media is on the decline and misinformation is on the rise. 
That’s why I’m thrilled to announce that Amanda Barrett is taking on a new role: Vice President of News, Standards and Inclusion. Amanda will continue to report to me in this senior leadership position, ensuring that standards has a role in our most important News decisions. She’ll also lead an effort to build out our standards team so we have more internal resources and more opportunities to lead external standards discussions in the media industry and with the public. 

I’m also particularly excited that our standards efforts will be aligned with our focus on inclusion. Simply put, ensuring that both our news coverage and our internal culture is inclusive IS one of AP’s standards, and we want there to be no ambiguity about that. Amanda will ensure we hold ourselves to account on that front. She’s long been a sought after leader in the news industry on inclusion, including spearheading the development of the popular inclusive storytelling chapter of the AP Stylebook.    Amanda will work closely with Karen Mahabir, whose talent development portfolio will officially expand to include standards. She’ll serve as our director of standards and talent development. This is a natural fit for Karen, who in addition to leading our internal development efforts and launching the LEAD program this year, was a key leader in our social media safety and standards discussions. She also brings a wealth of experience from her prior role as news editor for misinformation and fact checking. Both Amanda and Karen will continue to work closely with Corinne Chin, our director of talent for recruitment.      John Daniszewski, our editor at large for standards, will continue to bring his expertise, particularly on international issues, to AP standards decisions. John also plays a crucial role in liaising with a wide range of AP customers and industry groups to thoughtfully explain not just what AP’s standards are, but how and why they were created.     Amanda will also continue to oversee the Nerve Center, AP Stylebook and news verification teams.    While Amanda will start her new role immediately, she’ll continue to oversee Digital News until we hire a vice president for digital platforms. Amanda has of course ably served as a leader for our digital and social media efforts for years, and will continue to be as a resource for that team.   Please join me in congratulating Amanda on this important new role!   Julie