Today, Grist leadership is proud to announce the promotion of its executive editor, Katherine Bagley, to editor-in-chief, part of a restructuring effort to better serve our audience and reflect our growing newsroom. Bagley is a journalism leader with more than 15 years of experience covering the climate beat, and more than a decade working in nonprofit news. She joined Grist in 2021, initially as managing editor before quickly moving into the executive editor role, leading a team of journalists whose industry-leading and award-winning work helps drive the conversation around climate change.
“Kat has all the tools she needs and more to lead our newsroom into Grist’s next phase,” said Nikhil Swaminathan, Grist’s CEO. “She’s a courageous and empathetic leader who has a deep knowledge of climate issues and the vision to see around corners and ensure that we remain fleet of foot in a constantly changing media ecosystem. She knows how to set a course and how to get the best out of her team, when to share her radiant warmth and when it’s time to get the job done. I can think of no one better to build on what Grist has accomplished to date and find new levels of ambition and excellence for our work than Kat.”
So far at Grist, Bagley has overseen a period of newsroom growth and the launch of several new editorial strategies to deepen and diversify its impact. These include the creation of a Local News Initiative that embeds climate reporters into local newsrooms, helping to address gaps in the media’s coverage of climate change; building the nation’s only climate-focused food and agriculture reporting desk; and expanding Grist’s investigative and in-depth reporting, producing high-impact journalism that changes policy, uncovers injustices, and informs communities. Grist has in recent years won overall excellence honors from the National Magazine Awards, the Online News Association, and the Edward R. Murrow Awards, as well as dozens of other reporting- and project-specific honors.
Bagley was previously the managing editor of Yale Environment 360, an online magazine offering opinion, analysis, reporting, and debate on global environmental issues, and a reporter for InsideClimate News, covering the intersection of environmental science, politics, and policy. Her writing has appeared in Popular Science, Audubon, Scientific American, and The Guardian, among other publications, and anthologized in the Best American Science and Nature Writing series. She has also been honored by the Audubon Society’s Women in Conservation.
Bagley holds dual master’s degrees in journalism and earth and environmental sciences from Columbia University, and a bachelor’s degree from St. Lawrence University. She currently lives outside of New Haven, CT.
Coinciding with Bagley’s promotion, Grist has elevated two new editorial leaders to help run its growing newsroom: Teresa Chin will now serve as executive editor of data and design, and Jessica Stahl as executive editor of strategic initiatives. Stahl and Chin will report to Bagley.
As Grist’s executive editor of data and design, Chin will lead the newsroom’s visual strategy, ensuring that its climate journalism and storytelling are engaging, authoritative, and approachable. In her new role, she will manage Grist’s data, video, and multimedia journalists, as well as a roster of freelance contributors, to create visually compelling and interactive projects and strategy that help both the day-to-day and longer-term direction of the publication.
Chin started at Grist in 2018 and has served as its deputy editor since 2021. To this new role, she brings more than a decade of experience managing visual journalists and interactive teams. Her work has garnered several awards, including a National Magazine Award, two Edward R. Murrow Awards, and multiple Online News Association awards. She holds masters degrees in journalism and public health from UC Berkeley. In addition to her visual journalism duties at Grist, she will continue to mentor early-career journalists as the co-leader of Grist’s fellowship program.
In Stahl’s new role as executive editor for strategic initiatives, she will help lead the newsroom’s work in deepening and expanding its impact, reach, and reader loyalty through innovative, audience-centric editorial projects and experiments. She will work across the newsroom to bring audience thinking more deeply into all of Grist’s journalistic work, and will act as a conduit between the edit team and Innovation and Growth, or the publication’s audience and product team. Stahl previously was Grist’s editor for creative storytelling and interim co-director of the Fix Solutions Lab.
Before joining the organization, Stahl was the director of audio at The Washington Post, where she launched the newspaper’s podcast operation, and was The Post’s deputy editor for audience, overseeing a newsroom group focused on developing targeted audience growth strategies and smart multimedia content. She is a graduate of Johns Hopkins SAIS and Princeton University, and lives in Washington, D.C.
“Teresa and Jess have spent years elevating Grist’s journalism through innovation, collaboration, and excellence,” said Bagley. “They are true forces not only beloved in the newsroom, but that have the skills and leadership to set the standard for Grist’s next 25 years of publishing.”
