ABC News Digital announced a number of changes to its leadership team today. Laiea Smith, who had been managing editor for ABC News Digital since October 2010, will be leaving the company. With the move Eric Noe has been promoted to managing editor, he started at the company in 2004 as a general assignment reporter.
Ali Gazan has been promoted to head of lifestyle, which will include GoodMorningAmerica.com (which she already manages) as well as the entertainment, travel and lifestyle verticals of ABCNews.com.
John Shehata, the head of SEO, will be expanding his duties with the company, while Andrew Springer has been promoted to senior editor of social media, and Katie Moisse has been promoted to health editor.
More information in the note from ABC News Digital executive producer Lea Ann Leming, below.
From: Leming, LeaAnn
Sent: Friday, March 15, 2013 9:27 AM
To: #ABCTV IG News Dotcom All; #ABCTV IG News HPEditorial; #ABCTV IG News Now; #ABCTV IG News Photo Request; #ABCTV IG News Production
Cc: Ruffolo, Joseph
Subject: Great news from ABC News Digital EditorialI have some exciting news to report about the ABC News Digital Editorial Team.
Eric Noe has been promoted to Managing Editor, ABC News Digital. In this role Eric will lead our news coverage across our online and mobile platforms. Eric started his career here as a general assignment reporter in 2004 and has shown himself to be an impeccable journalist and a strong leader. He has had an instrumental role in making the Yahoo!-ABC News Network the #1 source of news and information online. I’m confident we’ll continue to expand our reach and take our original reporting to new heights under Eric’s expert guidance.
Ali Gazan has been promoted to Head of Lifestyle, ABC News Digital, and will work closely with Ad Sales. She will continue to lead GoodMorningAmerica.com on Yahoo! and will expand her oversight to include the entertainment, travel and lifestyle verticals within ABCNews.com. Ali has helped make GoodMorningAmerica.com the #1 morning television news site, far outpacing the competition. We expect great things from Ali and her team as we build out even more engaging content in these key areas.
John Shehata, Executive Director of SEO, will expand his role to serve various teams within DATG Digital Media. He will continue to lead SEO for ABC News Digital, a job he has done with tremendous results, and will also consult for Video Platforms & Product, ABC.com and ABC Family.com product teams. This larger scope is recognition of John’s expert SEO contributions to ABCNews.com. Due to the skillful and savvy efforts of John and his team, our search and social traffic has grown exponentially, helping us achieve our leadership position in the online news marketplace.
Andrew Springer has been promoted to Senior Editor, Social Media, ABC News. In this role Andrew will lead all social media efforts across the news division. As Social Media Producer for broadcast news, Andrew has taken the lead in social newsgathering efforts during breaking news and special events, creating the division’s first Social Media Desk during Hurricane Sandy. Additionally, Andrew developed Good Morning America’s social media presence, which has surpassed 1 million fans on Facebook and almost 2 million followers on Twitter. Now he’ll have a direct role in helping all our programs develop an even stronger presence online and expand the content of our flagship ABC News Digital social accounts.
Katie Moisse has been promoted to Health Editor. Katie came to ABC News as an associate producer in the medical unit before taking on the role of health producer at ABCNews.com. She’s a graduate of Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism with a Masters in Neuroscience and a PhD in Pathology. Look for more news from Katie’s team soon!
Eric, Ali, John, and Andrew will report to me. Katie will report to Eric and continue to work closely with Dan Childs. Please join me in congratulating them all on their well earned promotions. I look forward to sharing more about what’s ahead and our most recent successes at today’s all-hands meeting.
And finally a big thank you to Laiea Smith for all her work at ABC News and ABCNews.com. In the past two years she’s steered ABCNews.com through a time of major transformation and growth, and during her time at ABC, she’s made major contributions to many shows and platforms. She was often the first to arrive and the last to leave each day. We wish her well on her new adventures.
Lea Ann
Lea Ann Leming
Executive Producer
ABC News Digital