Gannett names Roxanna Scott executive editor, vice president of USA TODAY Sports
Bailey Schulz- Roxanna Scott is named executive editor and vice president for USA TODAY Sports.
- Emily Brown has been named managing editor of platforms and programming at USA TODAY.
- Gannett also announced several other leadership changes.
Roxanna Scott has been named executive editor and vice president for USA TODAY Sports.
Scott, who was managing editor for sports, will continue to lead USA TODAY Sports coverage while taking on a more expansive role coordinating coverage with the USA TODAY Network, which has news outlets nationwide.
In an interview, Scott said she would work closely with sports editors across the country on coverage plans, recruiting and staff development.
This cross-team collaboration will be used for major sporting events like the Super Bowl and March Madness, with Scott drawing on her experience piloting USA TODAY’s coverage of the last eight Olympic Games.
“I'm really excited to work more closely with our talented editors and reporters across the country as we reimagine what it means to be a sports network,” Scott said. “We have about 500 sports journalists across the network, and I look forward to harnessing some of that reporting firepower to dig into stories that have great impact and connect deeply with our readers.”
As part of that plan, Scott will tap USA TODAY Network reporters for “ambitious projects,” such as USA TODAY’s recent reporting on escalating salaries in college football and basketball which was localized by network newspapers.
“That reporting benefits all of our network because local reporters can take the data we collect and turn it into a local story centered on the team in their community,” Scott said.
As lead recruiter for the USA TODAY Sports Network, Scott said she would work with local and regional editors to identify strong candidates and find new opportunities for rising talent while continuing to build an inclusive team that reflects the diversity of the leagues, teams and athletes covered by USA TODAY.
Scott will report to editor-in-chief Nicole Carroll. She will work alongside USA TODAY’s other executive editors: Kristen Go, executive editor for news and initiatives; Chris Davis, executive editor and vice president of investigations; and Jeff Taylor, executive editor for news and network enterprise.
“She's the whole package,” Carroll said of Scott. “She's incredibly skilled at understanding and running sports departments and sports journalism. She's also proven her ability to manage and execute on large events. And she's very committed to the recruiting and retention of talented sports journalists, working to bring in more journalists of color and women to sports coverage.”
The promotion comes two years after Scott was named managing editor for sports at USA TODAY. During her tenure, she helped launch the premium digital subscription product USA TODAY Sports+. Last month, USA TODAY Sports was awarded the Grand Slam in the Associated Press Sports Editors contest, placing among the nation’s best in daily print, digital, long feature writing and projects.
Scott is a 15-year USA TODAY veteran. She has served as assistant managing editor for USA TODAY Sports and managing editor of Golfweek, a website and magazine that provides golf coverage for the USA TODAY Network. Scott, who came to USA TODAY from The Dallas Morning News, has also overseen coverage of tennis, soccer, horse racing and other major events. She is past president of the Association for Women in Sports Media.
Scott was just 16 when she began her career in sports reporting as an agate clerk at the Quad-City Times in Davenport, Iowa. A graduate of the University of Iowa, she was a reporter and editor at the college newspaper, The Daily Iowan. She also interned at two Iowa papers: the Des Moines Register and the Iowa City Press-Citizen, both part of the USA TODAY Network.
In another leadership move, Emily Brown, who has worked in digital roles at USA TODAY for the past 14 years, has been named Managing Editor of Platforms and Programming, overseeing content management of USA TODAY’s desktop, app and mobile experiences, as well as social channels, podcasts, newsletters and other audience outreach.
“I'm inspired by the creative and engaging work the audience team is already doing and look forward to championing their efforts as they push the boundaries on storytelling,” Brown said. “Our form of journalism is taking the incredible reporting and stunning visuals produced throughout the newsroom and making it approachable and exciting on dozens of platforms with incredibly diverse audience needs.”
USA TODAY reaches an average of 100 million unique visitors each month.
Gannett announced other leadership changes Friday:
Holly Moore will continue as managing editor and expand her role to include newsroom operations. Moore oversees planning for USA TODAY and coordination with the USA TODAY Network, which has more than 200 news operations nationwide that share content and collaborate on coverage.
Peter Barzilai becomes deputy managing editor for USA TODAY Sports. Barzilai, who has worked at USA TODAY for 19 years, has been a senior editor in sports, leading our general columnists and enterprise and investigative reporters. He has led coverage of Major League Baseball and edited award-winning projects around college coaches’ salaries.
Cristina Silva will continue her role as deputy managing editor of enterprise and will oversee education coverage in addition to race and social justice. She has edited major award-winning projects including Seven Days of 1961, a look at pivotal moments in the civil rights movement, and Deadly Discrimination, an examination of the systemic inequities that led to worse COVID-19 outcomes for communities of color.
David Brinkerhoff will continue his role as deputy managing editor for money, tech and travel, and will add journalists covering consumer news and business investigations to his team. Brinkerhoff has edited Money coverage at USA TODAY for the past five years, following stints at the New York Times and the Associated Press.