Melissa Bell is an American journalist and technologist. She helped launch the Indian business newspaper ''

Mint MiNT is Now TOS (MiNT) is a free software alternative operating system kernel for the Atari ST system and its successors. It is a multi-tasking alternative to TOS and MagiC. Together with the free system components fVDI device drivers, XaAES ...

'', and held several positions at ''

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 ...

'', starting in 2010. She and

Ezra Klein Ezra Klein (born May 10, 1984) is an American journalist, political analyst, ''New York Times'' columnist, and the host of ''The Ezra Klein Show'' podcast. He is a co-founder of '' Vox'' and formerly served as the website's editor-at-large. He ha ...

left the newspaper to co-found the news and opinion website '' Vox'' with

Matthew Yglesias Matthew Yglesias (; born May 18, 1981) is a liberal American blogger and journalist who writes about economics and politics. Yglesias has written columns and articles for publications such as ''The American Prospect'', ''The Atlantic'', and ''Sla ...

in 2014. Bell was named vice president of growth and analytics for

Vox Media Vox Media, Inc. is an American mass media company based in Washington, D.C., and New York City. The company was established in November 2011 by Jim Bankoff and Trei Brundrett to encompass ''SB Nation'' (a sports blog network founded in 2005 by ...

in 2015, and has been the company's publisher since 2016.

Education

Bell attended

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private research university in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll in 1789 as Georgetown College, the university has grown to comprise eleven undergraduate and graduat ...

, in Washington, D.C., and planned to attend law school. She was working as a legal assistant at a New York law firm when the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commerc ...

occurred. She left New York City a year later and took a variety of jobs, including as a bartender in

Vail, Colorado Vail is a home rule municipality in Eagle County, Colorado, United States. The population of the town was 4,835 in 2020. Home to Vail Ski Resort, the largest ski mountain in Colorado, the town is known for its hotels, dining, and for the nume ...

, and a waitress at a

race track A race track (racetrack, racing track or racing circuit) is a facility built for racing of vehicles, athletes, or animals (e.g. horse racing or greyhound racing). A race track also may feature grandstands or concourses. Race tracks are also u ...

. Encouraged by her mother, she enrolled at

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Chart ...

Medill School of Journalism The Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications is a constituent school of Northwestern University that offers both undergraduate and graduate programs. It frequently ranks as the top school of journalism in the Unite ...

, and interned at India's ''

Hindustan Times ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media, an entity controlled by the KK Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia. It was founded by Sunder Singh L ...

''. She graduated with a master's degree in 2006.

Career

During her time in India, Bell met

Raju Narisetti Raju Narisetti (born 1966) is a career journalist and former editor at major international newspapers who has served as global publishing director at McKinsey & Company since 2020. From July 2018 to December 2019, he was a professor of professio ...

, who hired her to help launch the Delhi-based daily business newspaper ''

''. She wrote for and edited the paper's weekend

lifestyle magazine Lifestyle journalism is the field of journalism that provides news and opinion, often in an entertaining tone, regarding goods and services used by consumers in their everyday life. Lifestyle journalism covers travel, fashion, fitness, leisure, fo ...

. Bell joined ''

'' in 2010, where she worked as a blogger and reporter. She wrote a column for the style section and about online culture, and in 2012 was promoted to lead the paper's blog strategy. While serving as director of platforms for ''The Washington Post'', she and

left to co-found the website '' Vox'' with Matt Yglesias in early 2014. She served as

executive editor Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive dire ...

and senior

product manager A product manager (PM) is a professional role that is responsible for the development of products for an organization, known as the practice of product management. Product managers own the product strategy behind a product (physical or digital), ...

for the new website. In this role, she led the development of the site and managed teams focused on analytics, graphics, and the news app. Bell was appointed vice president of growth and analytics for Vox Media in 2015. She worked on audience and

new product development In business and engineering, new product development (NPD) covers the complete process of bringing a new product to market, renewing an existing product or introducing a product in a new market. A central aspect of NPD is product design, along w ...

, and established

best practice A best practice is a method or technique that has been generally accepted as superior to other known alternatives because it often produces results that are superior to those achieved by other means or because it has become a standard way of doing ...

s for all of

's sites (''

Curbed ''Curbed'' is an American real estate and urban design website founded as a blog by Lockhart Steele in 2006. The full website, founded in 2010, featured sub-pages dedicated to specific real estate markets and metropolitan areas across the Uni ...

'', ''Eater'', ''

Polygon In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure that is described by a finite number of straight line segments connected to form a closed '' polygonal chain'' (or ''polygonal circuit''). The bounded plane region, the bounding circuit, or the two t ...

'', ''

Racked Vox Media, Inc. is an American mass media company based in Washington, D.C., and New York City. The company was established in November 2011 by Jim Bankoff and Trei Brundrett to encompass ''SB Nation'' (a sports blog network founded in 2005 by ...

'', ''

Recode ''Recode'' (formerly ''Re/code'') is a technology news website that focused on the business of Silicon Valley. Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher founded it in January 2014, after they left Dow Jones and the similar website they had previously ...

'', ''

SB Nation ''SB Nation'' (an abbreviation for their full name ''SportsBlogs Nation'') is a sports blogging network owned by Vox Media. It was co-founded by Tyler Bleszinski, Markos Moulitsas, and Jerome Armstrong in 2005. The blog from which the netwo ...

'', ''

The Verge ''The Verge'' is an American technology news website operated by Vox Media, publishing news, feature stories, guidebooks, product reviews, consumer electronics news, and podcasts. The website launched on November 1, 2011, and uses Vox Media' ...

'', and ''Vox''). Bell was named publisher of Vox Media in mid 2016, with responsibilities for audience and brand development.

Recognition

Bell appeared in ''

Columbia Journalism Review The ''Columbia Journalism Review'' (''CJR'') is a biannual magazine for professional journalists that has been published by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism since 1961. Its contents include news and media industry trends, ana ...

'' 2014 list of "16 women whose digital startups deserve Vox-level plaudits". In 2015, she was included in ''

Marie Claire ''Marie Claire'' is a French international monthly magazine first published in France in 1937, followed by the United Kingdom in 1941. Since then various editions are published in many countries and languages. The feature editions focus on wo ...

'' "New Guard" list of the "most connected women in America", and was named one of the "most powerful women in Washington" by the '' Washingtonian''. Bell appeared in ''

Folio The term "folio" (), has three interconnected but distinct meanings in the world of books and printing: first, it is a term for a common method of arranging sheets of paper into book form, folding the sheet only once, and a term for a book ma ...

'' 2016 "Director-Level Doers" list, recognizing the 100 "most forward-thinking and innovative leaders in magazine media". In 2017, she was included in ''

Digiday ''Digiday'' is an online trade magazine for online media founded in 2008 by Nick Friese. It is headquartered in New York City, with offices in London and Tokyo. Description ''Digiday'' provides daily online news about advertising, publishing, an ...

'' 2017 "changemakers" list of fifty people "making media and marketing more modern", as well as the ''Washingtonian'' "40 Under 40" list.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Melissa 1970s births Living people American women bloggers American bloggers American women journalists Georgetown University alumni Medill School of Journalism alumni The Washington Post people Vox Media Vox (website) people 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American women writers