Veteran leader brings five decades of newsroom experience and a deep commitment to high-impact local journalism
MIAMI – The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation today announced the appointment of Dean Baquet to its board of trustees. With a career spanning five decades in journalism, Baquet brings a wealth of experience to Knight as the foundation sustains its commitment to strengthening local news.
Baquet served as executive editor of The New York Times from May 2014 until June 2022. He now leads The New York Times Local Investigative Fellowship, a program that partners with local newsrooms to give fellows the opportunity to produce signature investigative work, guided by Times editors, focused on their state or region. Last month, a team from The Baltimore Banner, working together with Baquet’s team, won a Pulitzer Prize in local reporting for a series on the opioid crisis in Baltimore and its disproportionate impact on older Black men.
Baquet is a proven innovator with a lifelong dedication to investigative and local journalism. His appointment underscores Knight’s unwavering belief that a strong local news ecosystem is essential to thriving communities.
“We are at a critical time for democracy and free expression, pillars that are essential to a just and open society,” said Dean Baquet. “In an era marked by challenges including censorship, misinformation and threats to civil liberties, trusted local journalism has never been more urgent. I am honored to join Knight Foundation in this work.”
“We are thrilled to welcome Dean Baquet to our board of trustees,” said Christopher M. Austen, chair of the board of trustees. “As a decorated journalist and newsroom leader, we can think of no better perspective than Dean’s as we navigate this pivotal moment for the future of journalism and media.”
In September 2023, Knight co-launched the national collaborative funding effort, known as Press Forward, with MacArthur Foundation. As part of the effort, Knight doubled its commitment to journalism from $150 million to $300 million over five years aiming to enhance the growth, expansion and sustainability of local news organizations across the country.
During Baquet’s tenure as executive editor, The Times had significant audience and subscriber growth and won 18 Pulitzer Prizes. He originally joined The Times in 1990 as a Metro reporter and became National editor of the paper in 1995. He later served as managing editor and executive editor of the Los Angeles Times before returning to The New York Times in 2007 as the Washington bureau chief.
Baquet began his journalism career reporting for The Times-Picayune in New Orleans, his hometown, and then for the Chicago Tribune, where he was a chief investigative reporter and associate Metro editor. He won a Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting in March 1988 for uncovering corruption in the Chicago City Council, and he was a finalist for the investigative reporting Pulitzer in 1994.
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We are social investors who support democracy by funding free expression and journalism, arts and culture in community, research in areas of media and democracy, and the success of American cities and towns where the Knight brothers once had newspapers. Learn more at www.kf.org.