Pulitzer Prize-Winning Journalist James Grimaldi Takes the Helm at NCR

KANSAS CITY, Mo., Sept. 9, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — James V. Grimaldi, a multiple Pulitzer Prize winner and investigative reporter for The Wall Street Journal, has been named the new executive editor of the National Catholic Reporter (NCR), the global independent news organization.

Grimaldi, an award-winning investigative journalist, is set to start Sept. 16, 2024. He will report to Joe Ferullo, CEO and Publisher. Grimaldi will oversee all aspects of NCR’s editorial content, including breaking, enterprise and investigative reporting, while adhering to NCR’s forward-looking vision and its reputation for excellence in journalism.

A leading force on the Journal’s  investigations desk based in Washington, D.C., Grimaldi delivered accountability reporting that uncovered critical stories for the Journal – and before that at The Washington Post – about money, politics, influence peddling, corruption and law-breaking by federal judges and government officials.

“NCR’s great tradition of accountability and investigative reporting exposed grievous wrongs that led the Church to confront and respond to its sexual abuse scandal. That fearless journalism is vitally needed as the United States remains divided on cultural issues, the American church reflects those divisions and the global Church approaches a crossroads near the end of the Francis papacy,” Grimaldi said.

Now marking its 60th anniversary, NCR is the leading independent national Catholic newspaper in the United States. With about 1 million unique online readers monthly, the publication has a staff of 40 that has distinguished itself as a key source of independent and investigative reporting regarding the Catholic Church. In 1985, NCR was the first to report on the clergy abuse scandal. In recent years, the news outlet’s investigations have included examinations of diocesan mismanagement as well as  links between conservative donors and several U.S. church and church-affiliated groups.

NCR, a member of the Institute for Nonprofit News, won more than three dozen citations this year from the Catholic Media Association, including the three top investigative reporting awards. Its work has been featured in outlets such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, NPR, and NBC News.

“James is dedicated to NCR’s mission; he will elevate and expand NCR’s excellent journalism at a pivotal moment in the history of the Catholic Church. All of us at NCR — including our readers — look forward to his extraordinary editorial leadership in this exciting and decisive time,” Ferullo said.

ABOUT JAMES GRIMALDI

Grimaldi has worked on three projects that won the Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting His team at the Journal was awarded the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting for exposing conflicts of interest among senior federal officials. At The Washington Post, Grimaldi and two colleagues won the investigative-reporting Pulitzer in 2006 for exposing the Jack Abramoff bribery scandal. He also contributed to a Pulitzer won in 1996 by the Orange County Register in California.

Grimaldi has won dozens of awards from Investigative Reporters and Editors, the National Press Club, the National Press Foundation, press clubs in Washington, New York and California and the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing. His work has been a finalist for DuPont-Columbia, Peabody and national Emmy awards.

He has been an educator and mentor, serving as a Ferris Professor of Journalism at Princeton University and a Knight-Bagehot fellow at Columbia University. He has held leadership roles with Investigative Reporters and Editors, the Fund for Investigative Journalism and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.

Grimaldi is a native of Kansas City, Mo., and a graduate of the University of Missouri Journalism School and Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He is a frequent guest lecturer, teaching at schools such as George Washington University, American University, the University of Maryland and Morgan State University.

At NCR, Grimaldi steps into a position that had been vacant. He will oversee and guide NCR’s editorial operation from Washington, D.C.

He is married with two grown sons, two dogs and three cats and is active in his parish, St. Peter’s Catholic Church on Capitol Hill.

CONTACTS: TONY HERNANDEZ [email protected]
JOE FERULLO [email protected] 

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SOURCE The National Catholic Reporter Publishing