Amanda Bennett

Amanda Bennett
Amanda Bennett
Born	July 9, 1952 (age 74); Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Author, journalist
Years active	1970s–present
Known for	CEO of U.S. Agency for Global Media (2022–2025); Director of Voice of America (2016–2020); editor of The Philadelphia Inquirer and Lexington Herald-Leader; Pulitzer Prize winner

Amanda Bennett (born July 9, 1952) is an American author and journalist who held the position of CEO at the U.S. Agency for Global Media from 2022 until 2025. Prior to that, she directed Voice of America between 2016 and 2020. Bennett has also been editor of both the The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Lexington Herald-Leader, and authored six nonfiction works.

Early life and education

Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts and raised in Boonton, New Jersey, Bennett graduated from Boonton High School in 1971. She completed her undergraduate studies at Harvard College, earning a degree in English language and literature in 1975, during which time she served as an editor for The Harvard Crimson.

Career

Bennett’s journalism journey started at The Harvard Crimson. Following graduation, she briefly worked as a bilingual reporter for the Ottawa Citizen. She then spent over two decades at The Wall Street Journal, reporting from various locations and leading the Atlanta bureau as chief for three years. In 1983, she was appointed the Journal’s second correspondent stationed in China.

In 1987, Bennett was co-recipient of a Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting due to her investigative work revealing how public health officials had distorted information about the AIDS crisis to obtain funding. She joined The Oregonian in 1998 as managing editor, where she spearheaded investigations including a probe into a $1 billion asset manager that led to a lawsuit by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Under her guidance, the newspaper earned the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for its inquiry into the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

Bennett took on the role of editor at The Lexington Herald-Leader in September 2001 and was later appointed as the first female editor of The Philadelphia Inquirer, Knight Ridder’s flagship publication, in June 2003. She left this position in November 2006.

Between 2006 and 2013, Bennett served as executive editor at Bloomberg News, where she established and led a global investigative team and co-created Bloomberg’s Women’s project. Her team’s exposure of Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s family assets earned a Polk Award, though it also caused business complications in China. She stepped down from Bloomberg News in November 2013.

In addition to her editorial roles, Bennett has worked independently as a journalist and public speaker, including delivering talks at TED. In 2016, she was named director of Voice of America, a position she resigned from in June 2020 amid administrative changes during the Trump presidency.

President Joe Biden nominated her as CEO of the U.S. Agency for Global Media in November 2021. Following Senate committee approval and hearings, she was confirmed by a Senate vote of 60–36 on September 22, 2022, and officially sworn in on December 6, taking over from acting CEO Kelu Chao.

Professional affiliations

Elected to the Pulitzer Prize board in 2003, Bennett became its co-chair in 2010. She has served on boards including those of the Loeb Awards, Fund for Investigative Journalism, and Axis Philly—a nonprofit news organization based in Philadelphia. Additionally, she is a board member of the Committee to Protect Journalists and a trustee at the German Marshall Fund. Bennett also advises Harvard University’s Neiman Fellowship program and the Philip Merrill Howard Center for Investigative Journalism. Currently, she is part of the Lenfest Institute for Journalism Board of Managers.

Personal life

She has two children from her late spouse, Terence Foley, and four stepchildren through her marriage to Donald E. Graham, whom she wed on June 30, 2012. Her current residence is in Washington, D.C..

Books written

The Death of the Organization Man (1990)
The Man Who Stayed Behind (co-authored with Sidney Rittenberg) (1993)
The Quiet Room: A Journey Out of the Torment of Madness (co-written with Lori Schiller) (1994)
In Memoriam (with Terence B. Foley) (1997)
Your Child's Symptoms (in collaboration with Dr. John Garwood) (1995)
The Cost of Hope: A Memoir (2012)

Awards and honors

Bennett was a co-recipient of the national reporting Prize alongside colleagues at the Wall Street Journal and led a team at The Oregonian that secured the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service. Under her direction, Bloomberg's Projects and Investigations unit received numerous accolades, including awards from Loeb, Polk, Barlett & Steele, Headliners, the Society of American Business Editors and Writers, and the Overseas Press Club.

2001 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service
2011 Gerald Loeb Award for Magazines for the piece "End-of-Life Warning at $618,616 Makes Me Wonder Was It Worth It."
2018 Lifetime Achievement Award from Washington Women in Journalism
2019 Fourth Estate Award from the National Press Club
Senior Fellowship at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership & Policy

External links