The Trace has hired veteran journalist Craig Hunter as its first executive editor.
Hunter will work closely with editor in chief Tali Woodward to set The Trace’s editorial strategy and guide regular coverage. He will oversee the newsroom’s audience development staff, as well as our local reporting initiative and other grant-funded projects.
“Craig has a great sense of the media landscape and the key role of nonprofit, public interest journalism within it,” Woodward said. “He’s very enthusiastic about The Trace and covering gun violence in thorough, sensitive, ethical ways. I know Craig will help us take The Trace into a new era as a larger, more innovative organization.”
Hunter comes to The Trace with extensive experience as a multiplatform editor and newsroom leader. He spent 16 years as an editor at The New York Times, assigning stories on science, technology, and the media. In recent years he has focused largely on nonprofit journalism, spearheading the creation of Prism, a independent newsroom led by people of color, and working with The Appeal, where he edited coverage on the principal drivers of mass incarceration. More recently, he served as editorial director at Teach For America, leading a team of journalists who explore systemic barriers to equitable educational outcomes. He is also a co-founder of HeadStepper Media, a podcast production company.
“I couldn’t be more proud to join The Trace and this talented team of journalists who are dedicated to reporting on the harms of gun violence across our nation,” Hunter said. “The Trace’s work is critical to improving the public understanding of the toll that gun violence is taking on families and communities each year, and to shining light on solutions that can make those communities safer.”
Hunter is based in Georgia, and started his new role this week.
