GBH’s next President and CEO has been announced by Susan Goldberg, Monday’s announcement. Since 1951, it is the first time a woman has held this position.
Goldberg was editor in chief at National Geographic from 2014-2022. She then became the editorial director for 2015 and 2016. She was the brand’s first woman EIC and transformed the newsroom’s editorial strategy by diversifying and modernizing its staff and messaging across print and digital platforms, evolving the legacy print magazine into a digital media brand with more than 15 million readers a month and over 350 million followers on social media.
During her tenure at NatGeo the company won 11 national magazine award, was a finalist three times for the Pulitzer Prize, and won hundreds more awards for its reporting and work. Goldberg also expanded the magazine’s partnerships and created content with outlets like ABC News, ProPublica and The Undefeated.
“At a time when the media industry is changing at a rapid pace, Susan is a direct, focused, empathetic, and visionary leader who has the operational and editorial savvy to understand what resonates with our audiences, along with deep experience in executing a multi-platform transformation,”Ann Fudge, Chair of the GBH Board of Trustees, and Head of the Search Committee, stated in a statement. “She shares the core values of our organization – passionate about trusted journalism and its role in a free society, committed to building a diverse, people-driven organization, and an understanding of GBH’s role in the community. We are thrilled to welcome Susan to GBH.”
Of her hire, Goldberg said she is honored to be part of GBH’s next chapter.
“GBH is a trusted local and national media leader, steeped in excellence, with a proud history of investigative journalism, groundbreaking innovation, and care for its community,”Goldberg spoke. “I have spent my life telling stories that make a difference. As a journalist who is committed to helping and reflecting the communities we serve, I’m honored to be a part of GBH’s next chapter.”
Goldberg’s leadership in the media industry has been widely acknowledged. She made Folio’s Top Women in Media list in 2020; she was ranked seventh on the “Badass50” list by InStyle magazine in 2020; she was on Washington’s “most powerful”Washingtonian Magazine 2017 and 2019 women’s lists; she was also honored with the “Exceptional Woman in Publishing”Award in 2015.
A six-time Pulitzer Prize Juror, she is also a Board Member of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press as well as President of the National Museum of Women in the Arts.
Goldberg started her career at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer as a reporter. She also worked as an executive editor in Washington, D.C., for Bloomberg News. As a reporter, editor and deputy managing editor at USA Today she also worked.
Goldberg earned a B.A. Michigan State University, journalism.
