Associated Press editor Amanda Barrett, a newsroom manager with years of experience leading innovative journalism, has been promoted to the role of Nerve Center director. In this role, she will lead the New York hub of AP’s global newsroom, which serves as a center for news coordination, client engagement and audience development.
The appointment was announced Tuesday by Sally Buzbee, AP’s executive editor. She will report to Managing Editor Brian Carovillano.
Barrett, 49, previously served as news manager of the Nerve Center for planning and administration, focused primarily on curating the AP’s global enterprise report. In her new role, she will oversee an extensive redesign of the Nerve Center to better serve AP’s editorial and client needs, in addition to managing the department’s staff and day-to-day operations.
“The Nerve Center sits at the intersection of the global AP,” Buzbee said. “It’s where our customers come with their questions and needs, and it’s the linchpin for coordinating the most important stories across our many bureaus and regional desks. Going forward, it’s also going to be a bigger part of how we drive innovation, so Amanda is the ideal person to lead this team into a new era.”
Barrett joined AP in New York in 2007 as a content coordinator, working with journalists across the company on interactive projects. She became deputy East editor in 2009, establishing the regional desk in Philadelphia and helping to lead AP’s coverage of 10 northeastern states.
Two years later she returned to New York as city news editor, overseeing coverage of the metropolitan area. She directed AP’s award-winning coverage of Hurricane Sandy and its aftermath. In 2015 she moved to the Nerve Center as planning and administration manager.
She also serves as a leader of AP’s race and ethnicity reporting team and is a 2017 fellow in the Punch Sulzberger Executive Leadership Program at Columbia University. In addition, Barrett is a member of the National Association of Black Journalists.
Before joining AP, Barrett worked at Newsday, where she led a team of interactive journalists and managed the NYNewsday.com and amNY.com websites. She previously worked as a sports editor at the Orlando Sentinel and at the Roanoke Times in her hometown of Roanoke, Va.
“Amanda knows the ins and outs of the AP as well as anyone,” Carovillano said. “She has strong relationships through the company, and she has an amazing work ethic but is still a whole lot of fun to be around. She is an innovative thinker, a great colleague and just an all-around wonderful person.”
Barrett begins her new role immediately, succeeding Marjorie Miller, who is now AP’s director of global enterprise journalism.