Longtime executive Elizabeth Barrett has been named senior vice president, production and operations at ABC News.
ABC News president Kim Godwin made the announcement this morning in a memo to her staff.
In this new role, Barrett will oversee production management for ABC News Studios, partnering with ABC News Studios, finance and HR teams to establish production and resourcing models that support ABC News’ growing content pipeline.
She will also oversee the newsgathering and operations teams, including program operations, the logistics desk, field engineering, editing, graphics and more.
ABC News’ operations team, led by Brian Kennedy, and the production management team, led by Meegan Neeb, will now report to Barrett.
She will report to Derek Medina, ABC News executive vice president.
Barrett has been with ABC News for 30 years; most recently, she was vp of finance, business planning, and strategy for ABC News on the Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution (DMED) team.
She also served as a senior leader on the Disney General Entertainment Finance team, coordinating efforts and business insights across the group to help enhance the company’s performance.
Godwin, in recent days, has been making adjustments to her executive team; on Tuesday, she named Seni Tienabeso executive director of ABC News Live.
TVNewser obtained Godwin’s note to ABC News staff about Barrett’s appointment, shown below:
Team,
I am excited to share that Elizabeth Barrett is beginning a new role as senior vice president, Production and Operations, ABC News.
Many of you know Elizabeth as she has been our finance lead for ABC News on the DMED team. In this new role, Elizabeth will oversee the News division’s production and operations functions—and lead strategic direction while developing and spearheading initiatives that operationalize content strategies across ABC News.
She will oversee production management for ABC News Studios, partnering with our talented ABC News Studios, Finance and HR teams to establish production and resourcing models that support our growing content pipeline. Elizabeth will also oversee newsgathering and operations teams, including Program Operations, the Logistics Desk, Field Eng, Editing, Graphics and more. She will report to Derek Medina, ABC News executive vice president. Our terrific Operations team, led by Brian Kennedy, and Production Management team, led by Meegan Neeb, will now report to Elizabeth.
Elizabeth has been a vital member of the ABC News team for 30 years, working in a variety of different roles throughout her tenure. Most recently, as vice president of Finance, Business Planning, and Strategy, Elizabeth led our financial, strategic, and business initiatives, including developing and driving the quarterly, annual, and long-range financial plans. She also served as a senior leader on the Disney General Entertainment Finance team, coordinating efforts and business insights across the group to help enhance the company’s performance.
Prior, Elizabeth worked as vice president of ABC News’ Operations and Special Projects. She was key in executing business practices and policies, refining operational workflows and distribution strategies—and planning and accelerating growth initiatives and transformative projects. Elizabeth has also held vice president positions in Digital Strategy, Production, and Operations; worked as a senior producer for ABC News Now and ABCNews.com; and served as executive director of News Production and Operations.
In the coming weeks, Elizabeth will begin to transition from her former role while her successor in finance is being identified.
Please join me in congratulating Elizabeth on her new role.
Kim