NABJ Congratulates Member Kevin Merida on New Role as Managing Editor of The Washington Post

WASHINGTON (February 5, 2013) – The National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) congratulates Kevin Merida on his new role as managing editor of The Washington Post. This appointment is the highest position a black journalist has achieved at the newspaper.

Merida will be responsible for the news and features coverage as well as the Universal News Desk. Consequently, the editors of the Post’s National, Foreign, Metro, Business, Sports, Investigations, Outlook, Style, Arts, Travel, Food, Local Living and Weekend/Going Out Guide sections and The Washington Post Magazine will report to him.

"It is no surprise that Kevin was tapped for this position at The Washington Post,” said NABJ President Gregory Lee Jr., who worked at the Post from 1999 to 2004. "He is an excellent journalist, who will make a great impact on that newsroom. NABJ commends editor Martin Baron for placing this deserving journalist in this position.”

Most recently, Merida was the Post’s national editor, leading the coverage of some of the country’s biggest news events including the 2012 presidential campaign, the killing of Osama bin Laden, the Newtown, Aurora, and Ft. Hood shootings, the fiscal cliff and debt ceiling debates, the BP oil spill, and many more.

Merida was named NABJ’s "Journalist of the Year” in 2000 and he is admired for his journalistic tenacity, leadership and commitment to diversity in the media industry.

He graduated from Boston University in 1979 with a degree in journalism.  He is the co-author of the best-selling book "Obama: The Historic Campaign in Photographs,” and co-author of the biography "Supreme Discomfort: The Divided Soul of Clarence Thomas.”

NABJ wishes Merida continued success in his new position.

An advocacy group established in 1975 in Washington, D.C., NABJ is the largest organization for journalists of color in the nation, and provides career development as well as educational and other support to its members worldwide. For more information, please visit www.nabj.org.

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