Krissah Thompson

Krissah Williams Thompson (born 1979) is an American journalist at The Washington Post. In 2020, Thompson was named the Managing Editor of Diversity and Inclusion, and is the first African American woman to hold the position of Managing Editor at The Washington Post.[1]

Krissah Thompson
Thompson discusses First Ladies at the U.S. National Archives in 2015
Alma materUniversity of Texas at Austin
University of Maryland, College Park
EmployerThe Washington Post

Early life and education

Thompson is from Houston.[2] She was interested in journalism from a young age, joining The Daily Texan as a freshman at The University of Texas.[3] She earned her undergraduate degree at the University of Texas at Austin.[1][4] At UT-Austin Thompson was a member of the Delta Xi chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. and held a Chips Quinn Freedom Forum Fellowship.[5][6] She moved to the University of Maryland, College Park for her graduate studies in journalism.[7] She joined The Washington Post as a summer intern in 2001.[1]

Research and career

Thompson has spent her entire professional career at The Washington Post. She has written for Financial, National Politics and Style.[1] She contributed to Being a Black Man,[8] a collection of essays that covered race and Black identity.[8] During the presidency of Barack Obama, Thompson served as an editor of Style section.[1] She covered Michelle Obama during the second term of Barack Obama.[1]

In the aftermath of the shooting of Michael Brown, Thompson was acting bureau chief during the Ferguson unrest. She co-led the 2018 The Washington Post video-driven programme "The N-Word Project", which encouraged readers of the Post to document and share their views of the n-word.[9][10] The N-Word Project was nominated for an Emmy Award and shortlisted for an Online Journalism Award.[9]

In 2020, Thompson was made Managing Editor of Diversity and Inclusion at The Washington Post.[1] She is the first African American woman to hold the position of Managing Editor.[1][11] At the same time, the Post announced it would hire several journalists to cover issues related to race.[1] Thompson has said that she wants The Washington Post to look like America and the communities we cover”.[1]

Selected works
  • Thompson, Krissah (2009-03-18). "Sisterhood of Powerful Black Women in Washington Politics Comes to the Fore". ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2020-07-30. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  • Thompson, Krissah (2019-09-20). "We asked black mothers how they find their joy. This is what they said". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2020-07-30.
  • Williams, Krissah (2005-08-07). "Tenacity Drives Immigrant's Dream". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2020-07-30.

References
  1. Farhi, Paul (2020-07-28). "Krissah Thompson named The Washington Post's first managing editor for diversity and inclusion". Washington Post.
  2. PostPR, Wash (2020-07-28). "Five questions with Krissah Thompson". Washington Post.
  3. Dietrich, Alicia (2016-10-16). "Alumni Spotlight: Washington Post reporter recalls start of career..." Friends of the Daily Texan. Retrieved 2020-07-30.
  4. speirmd (2017-02-07). "Panel of Reporters to Discuss 2016 Election and Covering the New President". Moody College of Communication. Retrieved 2020-07-30.
  5. "Lineage". Delta Xi. Retrieved 2020-07-30.
  6. "Class of 1999 (Summer) | Freedom Forum Institute". Retrieved 2020-07-30.
  7. "Merrill Master's Alum Krissah Thompson Named Washington Post's First Managing Editor For Diversity And Inclusion". Philip Merrill College of Journalism. 2020-07-28. Retrieved 2020-07-30.
  8. Being a black man : at the corner of progress and peril. Merida, Kevin., Washington Post Company. (1st ed.). New York: PublicAffairs. 2007. ISBN 978-1-58648-522-1. OCLC 133465423.CS1 maint: others (link)
  9. "The N-Word". Online Journalism Awards. Retrieved 2020-07-30.
  10. "When was the last time you said the n-word? | The N-Word Project". Washington Post. Retrieved 2020-07-30.
  11. "Washington Post Appoints First Black Woman Managing Editor". Black Enterprise. 2020-07-30. Retrieved 2020-07-30.
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