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Vicky Ho, a key editor at the Anchorage Daily News for several years, has been named managing editor, Editor David Hulen said Thursday.
Working with Hulen, she’ll manage day-to-day operation of the ADN newsroom across platforms. Ho was previously the ADN’s deputy editor/online. Hulen, who has been editor since 2015, will remain responsible for content and overall direction of the newsroom.
“Vicky has been central to our efforts in producing timely, quality journalism, deepening reader engagement and helping to make what we do be sustainable and grow into the future,” said Hulen. “She cares deeply about Alaska and serving Alaskans.”
Ho joined the ADN in 2015 from the Steamboat Pilot & Today in Colorado, where she had been evening editor. She has helped lead digital transformation efforts at the ADN that resulted in dramatic increases in paid digital audience as well as growth in Alaska readership.
“I’m honored to be stepping into this role and to continue supporting our newsroom’s efforts to serve the community through journalism that’s powered by readers,” Ho said. “Our deep commitment to serving Alaskans is what ties together the work we do — online, in print and on different platforms — and the dedication I see from our news team each day is humbling and inspiring.”
In addition to her work at the ADN, Ho coaches newsrooms from across the country that are working to transition to a sustainable digital publishing model, as part of an intensive program hosted by the Poynter Institute. An avid hiker and skier, she previously wrote an outdoors column for the Daily News.
Other staff changes are coming to the ADN newsroom.
Chris Bieri has been named sports and entertainment editor and will oversee sports, outdoors, entertainment and food coverage. Bieri was previously an ADN copy editor and has taken on a range of other roles within the newsroom.
“I’m thrilled about this opportunity,” Bieri said. “I’m excited to deliver stories about Alaskans doing the things that we are passionate about — whether it’s a competition, an outdoor adventure or gathering to celebrate the cultures that define our community.”
Before joining the Daily News in 2013, Bieri worked in several newsrooms in the Midwest, including at the Minot Daily News in North Dakota, where he worked five years as sports editor and reporter.
Josh Reed, a freelance sports writer for the ADN over the past three years, has been hired as a full-time sports reporter. He grew up in Anchorage and is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Pembroke.
Reed joins other recent reporter hires. Nathaniel Herz, formerly of Alaska Public Media, returned to the Daily News in January and has spent much of February reporting on the Beijing Olympics for the ADN and FasterSkier.com. He’ll be covering politics and other topics.
Iris Samuels, whose reporting focuses on state politics and other topics, joined the newsroom in January after previously covering Montana for The Associated Press and writing for the Kodiak Daily Mirror. And Alena Naiden, reporting on communities in the North Slope and Northwest Arctic regions, joined the Arctic Sounder and ADN in November after previously writing for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.
Later this year, the Daily News plans to hire a reporter based in Washington, D.C., to cover Alaska issues in a partnership with Report for America.
“It’s a privilege doing the work we do and we don’t take it for granted,” Hulen said. “We’re working on a number of new initiatives to expand coverage, tackle new topics and deepen connection with readers.”