ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (April 20, 2022) – Veteran journalist and newspaper editor Jennifer Orsi has been appointed to the board of trustees of the Poynter Institute, a global nonprofit that promotes journalistic excellence in service to democracy.
Orsi is the executive editor of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune and vice president of content for the Florida/Georgia region of Gannett, the nation’s largest newspaper company. She oversees news coverage for hundreds of thousands of local readers in Sarasota, Florida, and 20 other news sites with 400 journalists across two states.
“Jennifer has been a trusted partner of Poynter throughout her deep career in local journalism, and we’re thrilled to welcome her to our board of trustees,” said Poynter president Neil Brown. “I was lucky enough to work for years beside Jennifer in the Tampa Bay Times newsroom and know firsthand of her commitment to high quality, accessible news coverage that puts the interests of readers first. Jennifer and Poynter share a set of values and standards that guide journalism now and will in the future.”
Before joining Gannett in 2021, Orsi spent 30 years at the Poynter-owned Tampa Bay Times. Raised in Clearwater, she is an Indiana University graduate and started her career as an intern at the Times. In 2014, she rose to be the first woman to serve as the sole managing editor of the Times. The newspaper won numerous awards during her long tenure, including multiple Pulitzer Prizes. Orsi also directed marketing content and communications for a subsidiary of the Fortune 500 company Raymond James Financial from 2018 to 2021.
As a trustee, Orsi will lend her executive oversight and extensive background in local journalism to help shape the future of Poynter’s work in journalism education, media ethics, fact-checking and media literacy.
Orsi joins an esteemed roster of seasoned media professionals and academics that govern the Institute’s operations including:
- Lori Bergen, founding dean of the College of Media, Communication & Information at the University of Colorado Boulder
- Stephen Buckley, lead story editor of Global Press
- Neil Brown, president of the Poynter Institute
- Monica Davey, deputy national editor of The New York Times
- Conan Gallaty, chief executive officer and president of the Tampa Bay Times
- Paula Ellis, Kettering Foundation senior associate, consultant, former Knight Ridder vice president, editor, publisher and Knight Foundation executive
- Rob King, senior vice president and editor-at-large at ESPN
- Ann Marie Lipinski, curator of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University
- Kelly McBride, senior vice president of the Poynter Institute and chair of the Craig Newmark Center for Ethics and Leadership
- Jessi Navarro, chief operating officer and chief financial officer of the Poynter Institute
- Paul C. Tash, chairman and chief executive officer of the Times Publishing Company and chairman of the board of trustees at the Poynter Institute
“I’m honored to join the Poynter Institute’s board of trustees, and to give back to Poynter, whose work I have benefitted from since the early days of my career,” said Orsi. “We at Gannett share with Poynter a cornerstone belief in the importance of local journalism, and I look forward to working with the Poynter’s board to find new ways to serve the needs of local journalists and news organizations.”
In addition to Poynter’s board of trustees, Orsi has served on the boards of directors for the Florida Society of News Editors and Florida Trend magazine, and the board of trustees for the Tampa Bay Times Fund. She has twice helped select recipients of the Pulitzer Prize as a juror.
For more information, visit poynter.org.
Media Contact
Tina Dyakon
Director of Marketing
The Poynter Institute
tdyakon@poynter.org
727-553-4343
About The Poynter Institute
The Poynter Institute for Media Studies is a global leader in journalism education and a strategy center that stands for uncompromising excellence in journalism, media, and 21st-century public discourse. Poynter faculty teach seminars and workshops at the Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida, and at newsrooms, conferences, and organizations around the world. Its e-learning division, News University, offers the world’s largest online journalism curriculum, with hundreds of interactive courses and tens of thousands of registered international users. The Institute’s website produces 24-hour coverage about media, ethics, technology, and the business of news. Poynter is the home of the Craig Newmark Center for Ethics and Leadership, the Pulitzer Prize-winning PolitiFact, the International Fact-Checking Network and MediaWise, a digital information literacy project for young people, first-time voters, and senior citizens. The world’s top journalists and media innovators rely on Poynter to learn and teach new generations of reporters, storytellers, media inventors, designers, visual journalists, documentarians, and broadcasters. This work builds public awareness about journalism, media, the U.S. First Amendment, and discourse that serves democracy and the public good. Learn more at poynter.org.
This story was updated on April 21st to accurately reflect the designations of Poynter Trustee Paula Ellis.
