Leading visual and editorial brand at one of America's oldest regional newspapers during a period of profound digital transformation.
Editorial Brand · Digital Products · Visual Strategy
Baltimore Sun Brand & Editorial Direction
The Context
The Baltimore Sun is one of the country's most storied metro dailies — founded in 1837, it has been a fixture of Baltimore civic life for nearly two centuries. When I joined the Sun, the organization was navigating the same existential pressures facing legacy print media everywhere: declining print revenue, a digital audience that needed to be built from scratch, and a newsroom culture that needed to evolve without losing what made it great.
My Role
Over five years at The Baltimore Sun, I held multiple roles leading audience, social media, interactive design, and visuals teams — and eventually served as Director of Content, a masthead-level position overseeing digital editorial strategy for the full organization. I directed the brand and visual identity across digital platforms, led the launch of the Sun's responsive website, and developed original digital content formats across the organization.
The Work
Digital product leadership. As Digital Products Manager, I led the launch of the Sun's first responsive website — a foundational shift in how the organization presented itself online. This wasn't just a design project. It required aligning editorial, product, and technology teams around a new way of thinking about digital-first publishing.
Visual and editorial brand direction. I oversaw the visual identity across digital platforms, graphic standards, photo direction, interactive design, data visualization, ensuring that the Sun's century-old brand translated into a digital context without losing its editorial authority. I also developed original digital content formats including podcasts, immersive storytelling templates, data visualization tools, and programmatic video.
Video strategy at scale. As Senior Visual Content Editor, I led multi-platform video strategy that grew views 87% year-over-year, achieving 10 million views in 2016. I created visual, digital, and distribution plans for major enterprise storytelling projects and developed the Sun's first editorial video sponsorship packages — creating new revenue streams through branded content and sponsored storytelling formats.
Cross-functional team leadership. As Director of Content, I managed cross-functional teams spanning visuals, interactive design, analytics, and audience development. I aligned editorial strategy with commercial goals in partnership with marketing and revenue teams, and led the editorial response to major national breaking news events including the Capital Gazette shooting.
