Tennessee Voices, Episode 276: Ben Goad, news director, The Tennessean
Ben Goad and I share the common experience of being mentored and guided by Maria De Varenne, who retired as executive editor of The Tennessean on April 8.
Goad, who led the business and music teams as a content strategist for a half dozen years, was recently promoted by our Editor Michael A. Anastasi to the role of news director, where he now oversees the day-to-day news operations of The Tennessean
He continues a legacy of editors at an internationally and nationally award-winning multimedia and digital news publication that seeks to improve the lives of Middle Tennesseans.
On this episode of the Tennessee Voices video podcast, we talked about his vision and also his back story including his Chicago origins, his alma mater DePauw University and how he got his start as a newspaper reporter in the Windy City.
Goad has also covered news in Washington, D.C. and Riverside, California, before moving to Nashville.
He oversaw the prize-winning "Hallowed Sound" project about the intersection between music and African American roots, and he worked with the engagement team on helping us launch a new series about how country music industry leaders are contending with the racial reckoning of 2020.
I hope you get to know Ben Goad and wish him success in his new role.
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About Tennessee Voices
The Tennessee Voices videocast is a 20-minute program, which started in March 2020 and invites leaders, thinkers and innovators who have written guest columns for a USA TODAY Network Tennessee publication to share their insights and wisdom with me and our viewers.
Please email your ideas for future guests to me at dplazas@tennessean.com. Thank you for watching.
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David Plazas is the director of opinion and engagement for the USA TODAY Network Tennessee and an editorial board member of The Tennessean. Tweet to him at @davidplazas.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee Voices: Meet Ben Goad, The Tennessean's news director
