IndyStar editor leaving to become CEO of Indiana Local News Initiative
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The top editor at The Indianapolis Star was named Tuesday as CEO of Indiana Local News Initiative, the not-for-profit media organization planning to create a 20-person newsroom in Indianapolis.
Bro Krift, hired in February 2022 as IndyStar’s executive editor, will be founding CEO for the Indiana Local News Initiative that outlined its mission as reporting nonpartisan information at no cost to its audience. His new duties include the founding of a network of newsrooms in multiple Indiana communities.
During Krift’s tenure at IndyStar, reporting on Indiana red flag laws following the FedEx mass shooting was recognized as a Pulitzer Prize finalist.
“Bro has just the right skills, experiences and passion to lead the Indiana Local News Initiative as CEO,” Karen Ferguson Fuson, board chair of the Indiana Local News Initiative, said in a written statement. “He deeply understands the role local journalism plays in protecting democracy and positively impacting communities.”
Krift joined IndyStar, owned by newspaper publisher Gannett Co., in February 2021 as news director. He previously led the Montgomery Advertiser as executive editor and held leadership responsibilities for newsrooms across Alabama and Louisiana.
Krift, 46, becomes the third consecutive top editor at IndyStar to spend less than two years in the role. Katrice Hardy served as executive editor from March 2020 to July 2021, when she became executive editor for The Dallas Morning News. Hardy’s predecessor was Ronnie Ramos, who served as IndyStar’s executive editor from March 2018 to December 2019.
In August, the Indiana Local News Initiative hired IndyStar’s public engagement editor, Oseye Boyd, to be editor in chief of the Indianapolis newsroom.
The startup’s staff also includes Ariana Beedie in the role of central Indiana community journalism director and Ebony Chappel in the role of market director.
Board chair Ferguson Fuson previously served as publisher of The Indianapolis Star. The organization’s board includes Penske Entertainment Corp. CEO Mark Miles and former White River State Park Development Commission leader Carolene Mays.