Audrey Cooper (born 1977) is an American journalist. Hearst Corporation named her as Editor in Chief of the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The ...

'' on January 13, 2015, making her the first woman to hold this position. Before Cooper's appointment, there were only two women Editors in Chief working at America's top 25 circulation daily newspapers, '' Newsday'' Debbie Henley and Nancy Barnes of the ''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With i ...

''. Cooper was born in

Topeka, Kansas Topeka ( ; Kansa: ; iow, Dópikˀe, script=Latn or ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the seat of Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, in northeast Kansas, in the Central U ...

, and grew up in the

Kansas City, Kansas Kansas City, abbreviated as "KCK", is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas, and the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is an inner suburb of the older and more populous Kansas City, Missouri, after which it is named. As of ...

, area. She graduated magna cum laude with a BA in Journalism and Political Science from

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with ...

in 1999. She worked as a journalist at the ''

Tri-Valley Herald The ''Tri-Valley Herald'' was a newspaper in the town of Livermore, California. Floyd L. Sparks was the longtime owner of the ''Herald'', along with the ''Daily Review'' and '' The Argus''. Sparks sold the papers in 1985 to the Bay Area News Grou ...

'', the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...

, and the '' Stockton Record'', all in Northern California. She joined the ''Chronicle'' in 2006 as an assistant metro editor, rising to replace Stephen Proctor as managing editor in May 2013.Yang, Nu (6 September 2013)
10 Women to Watch
'' Editor & Publisher'' She left the ''Chronicle'' effective June 20, 2020. She was named Editor-in-Chief at

WNYC WNYC is the trademark and a set of call letters shared by WNYC (AM) and WNYC-FM, a pair of nonprofit, noncommercial, public radio stations located in New York City. WNYC is owned by New York Public Radio (NYPR), a nonprofit organization that ...

Public Radio effective July 20, 2020. Her hire was criticized by newsroom staff who had requested someone local who was a person of color with radio experience. Her early tenure was also marked with conflict with her staff, layoffs, and terminations. In May 2021, their union,

SAG-AFTRA The Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA, stylized as SAG·AFTRA ) is an American labor union representing approximately 160,000 film and television actors, journalists, radio personalities, recordi ...

, filed a complaint with the

National Labor Relations Board The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is an independent agency of the federal government of the United States with responsibilities for enforcing U.S. labor law in relation to collective bargaining and unfair labor practices. Under the Na ...

against New York Public Radio, over Cooper's actions along with other labor issues that preceded her hire. The two groups settled in February 2022, agreeing to increase employee wage and benefits and extend employee protections against retaliation.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, Audrey Living people 1977 births American women journalists American newspaper editors San Francisco Chronicle people Boston University alumni People from the Kansas City metropolitan area Women newspaper editors 21st-century American women