Jason Seiken is a British-American media executive known for launching the online edition of ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
,''
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...
' digital output, and the
Telegraph Media Group
Telegraph Media Group Limited (TMG; previously the Telegraph Group) is the proprietor of ''The Daily Telegraph'' and ''The Sunday Telegraph''. It is a subsidiary of Press Holdings. David and Frederick Barclay acquired the group on 30 July 2004, ...
. A dual citizen of the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
and
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
, he was the first American to run the newsroom of a major British newspaper. His brief tenure as editor-in-chief of the
Daily Telegraph and
Sunday Telegraph was considered controversial.
Early life
Seiken attended
Union College
Union College is a private liberal arts college in Schenectady, New York. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents, and second in the state of New York, after Columbia Co ...
in
Schenectady, NY
Schenectady () is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-largest city by population. The city is in eastern New Y ...
and then went on to
Stanford University Graduate School of Business.
Career
Seiken began his career as a newspaper reporter,
columnist, and editor at the
Schenectady Gazette
''The Daily Gazette'' is an independent, family-owned daily newspaper published in Schenectady, New York. ''The Daily Gazette'' also owns and operates ''The Amsterdam Recorder'', ''The Gloversville Leader-Herald'' and ''Your Niskayuna''.
Hist ...
(New York) and then at the
Quincy Patriot Ledger (Massachusetts). In 1993, Seiken was one of 12 journalists in the United States to be awarded the
John S. Knight Fellowship at Stanford University. Seiken serves on the Knight Fellowship Board of Visitors.
The Washington Post
In 1994, Seiken was hired to lead ''The Washington Post''’s digital team and rose to become editor-in-chief of ''The Post''’s digital subsidiary. Seiken subsequently hired and led the team that launched washingtonpost.com. At launch, the site was praised by the
''Philadelphia Inquirer'' who compared is to
Michael Kinsley
Michael E. Kinsley (born March 9, 1951) is an American political journalist and commentator. Primarily active in print media as both a writer and editor, he also became known to television audiences as a co-host on ''Crossfire''.
Early life and e ...
’s digital magazine
Slate.
The original
washingtonpost.com
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nat ...
included several industry innovations. It was the first newspaper site to update around the clock; the first to include significant non-newspaper content such as the first chapters of books; and the first to devote significant resources to creating online community that gave users a voice.
AOL
In 1997, Seiken joined
AOL. In early 2001, he transferred to London to head programming for AOL UK and, later, AOL Europe.
PBS
In 2006, Seiken returned to the United States as Senior Vice President and General Manager for Digital at the Public Broadcasting Service. Under Seiken, PBS Digital launched a series of products including an
iPad
The iPad is a brand of iOS and iPadOS-based tablet computers that are developed by Apple Inc. The iPad was conceived before the related iPhone but the iPhone was developed and released first. Speculation about the development, operating ...
app that won the 2011
Webby Award
The Webby Awards are awards for excellence on the Internet presented annually by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a judging body composed of over two thousand industry experts and technology innovators. Categories includ ...
for best tablet app, and a video platform.
During Seiken's time at PBS, the station expanded into online video content. Seiken formed
PBS Digital Studios
PBS Digital Studios is a non-profit organization that through which PBS distributes original educational web video content based in Arlington, Virginia. It comprises both original series and partnerships with existing YouTube channels. Most of t ...
, which began producing educational but edgy videos. The studio’s first hit, an auto-tuned version of the TV classic Mr Roger’s Neighborhood, was YouTube’s 10th most viral video of 2012 having been shared 1,045,039 times. By Seiken's final year at PBS, monthly video views on PBS.org had risen from 2 million to 225 million views per month and PBS had won more 2013 Webby Awards than any other media company in the world.
''The Daily Telegraph''
In October 2013, Seiken became the digital executive and Editor-in-Chief of ''The Telegraph'' in its London office. Seiken's appointment as a digital executive and editor was controversial. Coverage in other
Fleet Street newspapers emphasized that Seiken was an American with no previous experience at British newspapers
In early 2014, Seiken laid out his vision for ''The Telegraph'' in a series of speeches to staff that were well-received by a section of staff responding anonymously. In public speeches and interviews, Seiken said journalism was entering a “golden age” of better newsgathering tools, such as databases and drones, and emerging technologies to present news, such as virtual reality. These speeches became the subject of derision in rival British newspapers, for “talking about drones" and Private Eye afforded him the name 'Psycho Seiken'
Seiken had early success in boosting ''The Telegraph''
's web and mobile traffic, largely through clickbait. He presided over a controversial series of staff reductions and was criticized for laying off experienced print journalists.
A year after his appointment, Seiken was moved from his editorial role to a strategic role. He stepped down the following year.
References
External links
Harvard Business ReviewTEDxPBSMashable
{{DEFAULTSORT:Seiken, Jason
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
American media executives