Vox’s ‘Outsider’ Editor-in-Chief Aims to Make Change on the Inside

In recent years, an unprecedented number of women of color have risen to executive and shot-calling positions in news media in the United States — but their representation is still far below their proportion of the population. The Women’s Media Center’s recently released report, “Women of Color in U.S. News Leadership 2023,” includes interviews with 20 history-making women of color news executives in television, print, digital media, and radio who shed light on how they have navigated their careers in media, the ways in which they create inclusive workplaces, and why it is crucial for news media staffs to reflect the diversity of their audiences. Below is our conversation with Swati Sharma, editor-in-chief of Vox.

Before becoming editor-in-chief of Vox in March 2021, Swati Sharma spent more than three years at The Atlantic, ultimately as its managing editor, directing daily reporting and all of the news coverage teams: culture, education, family, health, global, ideas, politics, science, and technology. (Swati recently was also named publisher.)

Before joining The Atlantic, the South Asian American executive spent more than four years at The Washington Post, where, alternately, she was a breaking news assignment editor and foreign and national security digital editor. Earlier in her career, at The Boston Globe, she covered nightlife and hyperlocal news, and coordinated some of the Boston Marathon bombing coverage that helped the Globe win a Pulitzer Prize.

This is an abridged version of Sharma’s conversation with the Women’s Media Center.

Why did you choose journalism? Why have you stayed in the craft?

I’ve always believed that ignorance can cause a lot of societal harms. One way to combat that is through information. And a big part of journalism is trying to reach all sorts of people in all sorts of communities. That’s been my driving force.

You became a story editor fairly early in your career and, from there, got on the management track. Was that on purpose? Strategic?

I’ve great mentors, people who supported me, helped train me, and gave me the chance to become a manager. I started managing people when I was about 30. Stepping into that role, back when I was at The Washington Post, was pretty deliberate. And being in management, over time, has become an even more deliberate thing for me.

Constantly, I’m trying to be better at this. Because the journalism is only as good as the culture of a newsroom. And management defines the culture.

What are the easy parts of your job? The challenges?

We’re up against a lot, especially considering how the internet plays into all of this.

The way people get news is constantly changing. That presents a challenge, but also an opportunity. One of the skills that you really need as a journalist is being comfortable with constant change.

I came to Vox because it’s been a game-changer. It’s doing the kind of journalism I believe in. Through three different mediums of storytelling, we’re doing news stories that have a certain approachability, that are easy to understand and offer clarity.

Plus, we don’t have a paywall. This goes back to my personal mission: People really need and want information.

What’s your assessment of Vox’s gender and race diversity?

We’ve got a good amount of diversity, especially when it comes to women. In editorial, 59% of the staff is female and 40% is of color; in leadership at Vox, overall, 60% are female and 39% are of color.

Wherever I am, I always want to make the diversity balance better.

How do you do that?

By making diversity a mindset — something that is at the core of what we do — not an extra. We have to have people around us who reflect our society.

When we’re recruiting, we have to think in terms of the big picture, of the skills that you really, really need journalists to have already and the skills that are teachable to newcomers to the craft. I think that opens up the pool a lot more.

One thing that I think about a lot is ‘What happens if certain people aren’t in the newsroom?’

I came to the industry as a kind of outsider. I went to community college. I’m the first journalist in my family. But I found my way and learned how things work. That’s great. But it’s actually not what I want for people. If you’re not from this world, I want it to be easier for you to figure out your path, grow, figure out your next step. We must be about helping people — no matter their background — to thrive.

How does being a woman of color influence your walk, if you will, through the newsroom and the industry? Does your staff notice these aspects of you?

Because I do still see myself as that outsider, I really try to talk to people and connect with people and make sure that they know their path. My favorite cliché is ‘Clarity is kindness.’ The clearer you are with people and the clearer they are about what their path is, the better it is for the newsroom. That’s as true for people who have room to grow as for someone who is shining professionally.

Also, I discuss how we shouldn’t only think about race or talk to diverse sources when the story, for example, is about hate crimes against Asian Americans. We should always have diverse sources. That’s a burden — no, an opportunity — that we all share. We need that awareness about race and gender no matter what the story is. The responsibility to find diverse sources shouldn’t just be on people from diverse backgrounds.

What advice do you give women of color who aspire to management?

One, it’s important to know your story and how that story drives your mission as a journalist. Why are you here?

Also, it’s really important to always be you. Be you as you listen and talk to people. That’s really good advice no matter what level you’re on, but it’s especially critical when you’re a manager.

Also, I have my own personal board of directors, made of peers and mentors and others, including people who are not in the industry, who have known me since Day 1. It’s those people who keep me honest. My success is their success.