Amanda Bennett (born July 9, 1952) is an American journalist and author. She was the director of
Voice of America
Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is the state-owned news network and international radio broadcaster of the United States of America. It is the largest and oldest U.S.-funded international broadcaster. VOA produces digital, TV, and radio content ...
from 2016 to 2020, and the current CEO of
U.S. Agency for Global Media. She formerly edited ''
The Philadelphia Inquirer
''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...
'' and the ''
Lexington Herald-Leader
The ''Lexington Herald-Leader'' is a newspaper owned by the McClatchy Company and based in Lexington, Kentucky. According to the ''1999 Editor & Publisher International Yearbook'', the paid circulation of the ''Herald-Leader'' is the second large ...
''. Bennett is also the author of six nonfiction books.
Early life and education
Bennett was born in
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...
, and was raised in
Boonton, New Jersey
Boonton is a Town (New Jersey), town in Morris County, New Jersey, Morris County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the town's population was 8,815, an increase of 468 (+5.6%) from the 2010 United States census, 20 ...
, where she attended
Boonton High School
Boonton High School is a comprehensive four-year public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from Boonton, in Morris County, New Jersey, United States, operating as part of the Boonton Public Schools. The school i ...
, graduating in 1971. She graduated with a degree in English language and literature from
Harvard College
Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...
in 1975, where she was an editor on ''
The Harvard Crimson
''The Harvard Crimson'' is the student newspaper of Harvard University and was founded in 1873. Run entirely by Harvard College undergraduates, it served for many years as the only daily newspaper in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Beginning in the f ...
''.
Career
![VOA Director Amanda Bennett Media Literacy Conference Sarajevo Sept 22 2017](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/89/VOA_Director_Amanda_Bennett_Media_Literacy_Conference_Sarajevo_Sept_22_2017.jpg)
Bennett's journalism career began at the ''Harvard Crimson'', where she was an editor. Following her 1975 graduation from Harvard College, she worked briefly as a bilingual (French-English) reporter on the ''
Ottawa Citizen
The ''Ottawa Citizen'' is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
History
Established as ''The Bytown Packet'' in 1845 by William Harris (journalist), William Harris, it was renamed the '' ...
'' in
Ottawa
Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...
,
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
. She had a 23-year career with ''
The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'', which included reporting stints in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
,
Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
,
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
and three years as bureau chief in
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
. In 1983, she became the second ''Wall Street Journal'' correspondent in
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
.
In 1987, she shared with her ''Journal'' colleagues a
Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting
This Pulitzer Prize has been awarded since 1942 for a distinguished example of reporting on national affairs in the United States. In its first six years (1942–1947), it was called the Pulitzer Prize for Telegraphic Reporting – National.
Li ...
for her work on how public health officials mischaracterized the AIDS epidemic in order to secure more public funding and financial support. In 1998, she left the ''Journal'' to become a managing editor at ''
The Oregonian
''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 185 ...
'', a regional newspaper owned by the Newhouse chain and headed by the pioneer journalist,
Sandra Mims Rowe
Sandra Mims Rowe (born May 26, 1948) is an American journalist. She is the former editor of ''The Virginian-Pilot'' in Norfolk, Virginia, and of ''The Oregonian'', in Portland, Oregon. She was one of the few women editors of metro newspapers in t ...
. At the Oregonian, she headed the creation of investigative projects. Among the projects she led was a year-long investigation of the $1 billion local asset manager, Capital Consultants, that led to the September 2000, suit by the
Securities and Exchange Commission
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The primary purpose of the SEC is to enforce the law against market ...
against the firm and its principal Jeffrey Grayson. The project was reported by veteran investigative reporters Jeff Manning and Jim Long. Bennett also led the Oregonian in an investigation of the
Immigration and Naturalization Service
The United States Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) was an agency of the U.S. Department of Labor from 1933 to 1940 and the U.S. Department of Justice from 1940 to 2003.
Referred to by some as former INS and by others as legacy INS, ...
that won the paper the 2001
Pulitzer Prize for Public Service
The Pulitzer Prize for Public Service is one of the fourteen American Pulitzer Prizes annually awarded for journalism. It recognizes a distinguished example of meritorious public service by a newspaper or news site through the use of its journalis ...
.
In September 2001, she became editor of ''
The Lexington Herald-Leader
The ''Lexington Herald-Leader'' is a newspaper owned by the McClatchy Company and based in Lexington, Kentucky. According to the ''1999 Editor & Publisher International Yearbook'', the paid circulation of the ''Herald-Leader'' is the second larg ...
'', a
Knight Ridder
Knight Ridder was an American media company, specializing in newspaper and Internet publishing. Until it was bought by McClatchy on June 27, 2006, it was the second largest newspaper publisher in the United States, with 32 daily newspaper brand ...
paper. Twenty months later on June 2, 2003, Knight Ridder appointed her the first female editor in the 174-year history of their flagship paper, ''The Philadelphia Inquirer''. In November 2006, Bennett stepped down as the ''Inquirer''s editor
From November 2006 to June 2013, she was executive editor at
Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News (originally Bloomberg Business News) is an international news agency headquartered in New York City and a division of Bloomberg L.P. Content produced by Bloomberg News is disseminated through Bloomberg Terminals, Bloomberg Televi ...
, where she created and ran a global team of investigative reporters and editors. She was also a co-founder, with journalist Lisa Kassenaar, of Bloomberg News' Women's project. Under her direction, a team of Bloomberg journalists for the first time tallied the personal assets of family members of a senior Chinese leader – vice president
Xi Jinping
Xi Jinping ( ; ; ; born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has served as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), and thus as the paramount leader of China, s ...
. The story, which was widely circulated both inside and outside China, won the
Polk Award
The George Polk Awards in Journalism are a series of American journalism awards presented annually by Long Island University in New York in the United States. A writer for Idea Lab, a group blog hosted on the website of PBS, described the award ...
, and also resulted in Bloomberg's business in China being significantly disrupted. She resigned from Bloomberg News in November 2013.
Bennett has also been a freelance journalist and public speaker, and she has spoken at
TED
TED may refer to:
Economics and finance
* TED spread between U.S. Treasuries and Eurodollar
Education
* ''Türk Eğitim Derneği'', the Turkish Education Association
** TED Ankara College Foundation Schools, Turkey
** Transvaal Education Depa ...
on journalism and end-of-life care.
In 2016, she was named the 29th director of
Voice of America
Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is the state-owned news network and international radio broadcaster of the United States of America. It is the largest and oldest U.S.-funded international broadcaster. VOA produces digital, TV, and radio content ...
. In mid-June 2020, as the Trump administration replaced
VOA's parent agency director with conservative filmmaker
Michael Pack
Michael Pack is an American documentary filmmaker who was CEO of the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) from June 2020 to January 2021. Pack was nominated by President Donald Trump and took office at USAGM in June 2020 after Senate confirmation. ...
, Bennett announced her resignation.
Personal life
She has two children with her late husband, Terence Foley, and four step-children with her husband,
Donald E. Graham
Donald Edward Graham (born April 22, 1945) is the majority owner and chairman of Graham Holdings Company. He was formerly the publisher of ''The Washington Post'' (1979–2000) and later was the lead independent director of Facebook's board of di ...
, whom she married on June 30, 2012. She lives in
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
Books
* ''The Death of the Organization Man''
* ''The Man Who Stayed Behind'' (with Sidney Rittenberg)
* ''The Quiet Room'' (with Lori Schiller)
* ''In Memoriam'' (with Terence B. Foley)
* ''Your Child's Symptoms'' (with Dr. John Garwood)
* ''The Cost of Hope''
Awards and honors
Bennett shared the 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. Projects by the Bloomberg Projects and Investigations team won numerous awards, including Loeb,
Polk, Barlett & Steele, Headliners, Society of American Business Editors and Writers and Overseas Press Club Awards.
* 2001
Pulitzer Prize for Public Service
The Pulitzer Prize for Public Service is one of the fourteen American Pulitzer Prizes annually awarded for journalism. It recognizes a distinguished example of meritorious public service by a newspaper or news site through the use of its journalis ...
* 2011
Gerald Loeb Award
The Gerald Loeb Award, also referred to as the Gerald Loeb Award for Distinguished Business and Financial Journalism, is a recognition of excellence in journalism, especially in the fields of business, finance and the economy. The award was estab ...
for Magazines for "End-of-Life Warning at $618,616 Makes Me Wonder Was It Worth It."
* 2018 Lifetime Achievement, Washington Women in Journalism Awards
* 2019 National Press Club Fourth Estate Award
* Senior Fellow, University of Southern California's Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership & Policy
Professional affiliations
In 2003, she was elected to the
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...
board. In 2010, she was elected co-chair of the Pulitzer Board. She was on the board of the Loeb Awards; the board of the Fund for Investigative Journalism; she was a board member of Axis Philly, a nonprofit online Philadelphia news site. She is on the board of the Committee to Protect Journalists. She is a trustee of the German Marshall Fund. She is on the advisory board of the Neiman Fellowship program at Harvard University and is an advisory board member at the Philip Merrill Howard Center for Investigative Journalism. She is also currently a Lenfest Institute for Journalism Board Manager.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bennett, Amanda
1952 births
American women journalists
Harvard College alumni
Living people
Boonton High School alumni
People from Boonton, New Jersey
Writers from Cambridge, Massachusetts
The Oregonian people
The Wall Street Journal people
Writers from New Jersey
The Harvard Crimson people
Voice of America people
Pulitzer Prize for Public Service winners
Gerald Loeb Award winners for Magazines
21st-century American women