“Jenn is a consummate pro: a quick study, talented editor, great writer, innovative editorial strategist, and one of the hardest workers I know. She’ll bring new life to any editorial operation she encounters, as she did to mine.”
“Jenn is a strategic, strong newsroom leader who understands the importance of marrying business realities with strategy while staying true to the mission and audience.”
“We brought Jenn on to help with a couple of key leadership projects, and I was impressed with her smart, strategic approach to helping us quickly align on our goals and designing a customized process to meet them. She is a creative thinker and executor who can keep both the big picture and details in mind, who is passionate about saving and growing journalism and who enjoys challenges spanning editorial, audience, revenue and innovation. She’s a natural problem solver and a trustworthy partner who knows how to get things done.”
“Jenn has built a career on steering newsrooms through important, difficult work and challenging times; from financial strife and restructures to ethical business models that keep journalism alive without compromising its integrity.”
“Jenn jumped in to help us launch a new website and content strategy for independent makers and artists, including an online store, workshops and classes. She is talented, responsive and fun to work with, both highly strategic and able to execute the work quickly and well, and contributed to our success. It’s so rare to find a leader with such a unique and broad range of skills, along with an infectious enthusiasm and passion for digital strategy. ... If you’re considering working with Jenn, don’t hesitate.”
“During my career, I have not met anyone more strategic than Jenn. Any challenge, both big and small, she is methodical in her approach in tackling the issue — from the beginning to the end. Her leadership during this disruptive time in our industry is what is needed to foster innovation and take things to the next level.”
“Jenn Kho is the most impressive and inspiring editor and mentor I’ve had the pleasure of knowing and working with in my 20-plus career in journalism.
“When my colleagues and I launched Canary Media … [Jenn] helped us hash out our organizational structure, identify our target audiences and prioritize coverage to match our target audiences. She also helped us refine our approach to audience development and engagement.”
“Jenn is a truly talented leader. … At HuffPost, Jenn revolutionized the US newsroom’s approach to audience metrics and engagement, helped diversify revenue, and launched and iterated membership programs that brought HuffPost and its readers closer than ever.”
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“We brought Jenn on to help with a couple of key leadership projects, and I was impressed with her smart, strategic approach to helping us quickly align on our goals and designing a customized process to meet them. She is a creative thinker and executor who can keep both the big picture and details in mind, who is passionate about saving and growing journalism and who enjoys challenges spanning editorial, audience, revenue and innovation. She’s a natural problem solver and a trustworthy partner who knows how to get things done.”
“Jenn has built a career on steering newsrooms through important, difficult work and challenging times; from financial strife and restructures to ethical business models that keep journalism alive without compromising its integrity.”
“Jenn jumped in to help us launch a new website and content strategy for independent makers and artists, including an online store, workshops and classes. She is talented, responsive and fun to work with, both highly strategic and able to execute the work quickly and well, and contributed to our success. It’s so rare to find a leader with such a unique and broad range of skills, along with an infectious enthusiasm and passion for digital strategy. ... If you’re considering working with Jenn, don’t hesitate.”
“During my career, I have not met anyone more strategic than Jenn. Any challenge, both big and small, she is methodical in her approach in tackling the issue — from the beginning to the end. Her leadership during this disruptive time in our industry is what is needed to foster innovation and take things to the next level.”
“Jenn Kho is the most impressive and inspiring editor and mentor I’ve had the pleasure of knowing and working with in my 20-plus career in journalism.
“When my colleagues and I launched Canary Media … [Jenn] helped us hash out our organizational structure, identify our target audiences and prioritize coverage to match our target audiences. She also helped us refine our approach to audience development and engagement.”
“Jenn is a truly talented leader. … At HuffPost, Jenn revolutionized the US newsroom’s approach to audience metrics and engagement, helped diversify revenue, and launched and iterated membership programs that brought HuffPost and its readers closer than ever.”
“Jenn is a consummate pro: a quick study, talented editor, great writer, innovative editorial strategist, and one of the hardest workers I know. She’ll bring new life to any editorial operation she encounters, as she did to mine.”
“Jenn is a strategic, strong newsroom leader who understands the importance of marrying business realities with strategy while staying true to the mission and audience.”
Jennifer Kho has spent more than two decades in newsrooms as a reporter, editor and leader.
She was most recently the executive editor of the Chicago Sun-Times and interim editor-in-chief of Chicago Public Media, which also includes WBEZ and Vocalo. In that role, she brought the editorial and content staff together, creating the first integrated public radio and newspaper newsroom in the U.S.
She previously served as the managing editor and senior director of strategic innovation at HuffPost, where she led the development of new audience engagement, storytelling, and revenue models, including membership. Prior to that, as managing editor of the Guardian US, she helped to develop and execute a new U.S. editorial strategy that grew traffic and engagement while cutting costs.
She was the founding editor of Greentech Media, a past president of the Journalism & Women Symposium (JAWS) and an independent researcher on healthy news communities and solutions journalism.
Today she works with individuals and organizations – including news and content providers, tech and support organizations, funders and founders – committed to informing and improving our communities. She's the editor of the Bright Spots section of Medill's State of Local News report, and a coach for the Medill Local News Accelerator and the Institute of Nonprofit News Audience Studio.
She's also an adviser to the Bay City News Foundation, The Diversity Pledge Institute, The Pivot Fund and Canary Media; a subject matter expert for A Picture's Worth; and chair of the elections committee for JAWS.
“Jenn jumped in to help us launch a new website and content strategy for independent makers and artists, including an online store, workshops and classes. She is talented, responsive and fun to work with, both highly strategic and able to execute the work quickly and well, and contributed to our success. It’s so rare to find a leader with such a unique and broad range of skills, along with an infectious enthusiasm and passion for digital strategy. ... If you’re considering working with Jenn, don’t hesitate.”
“During my career, I have not met anyone more strategic than Jenn. Any challenge, both big and small, she is methodical in her approach in tackling the issue — from the beginning to the end. Her leadership during this disruptive time in our industry is what is needed to foster innovation and take things to the next level.”
“Jenn Kho is the most impressive and inspiring editor and mentor I’ve had the pleasure of knowing and working with in my 20-plus career in journalism.
“When my colleagues and I launched Canary Media … [Jenn] helped us hash out our organizational structure, identify our target audiences and prioritize coverage to match our target audiences. She also helped us refine our approach to audience development and engagement.”
“Jenn is a truly talented leader. … At HuffPost, Jenn revolutionized the US newsroom’s approach to audience metrics and engagement, helped diversify revenue, and launched and iterated membership programs that brought HuffPost and its readers closer than ever.”
“Jenn is a consummate pro: a quick study, talented editor, great writer, innovative editorial strategist, and one of the hardest workers I know. She’ll bring new life to any editorial operation she encounters, as she did to mine.”
“Jenn is a strategic, strong newsroom leader who understands the importance of marrying business realities with strategy while staying true to the mission and audience.”
“We brought Jenn on to help with a couple of key leadership projects, and I was impressed with her smart, strategic approach to helping us quickly align on our goals and designing a customized process to meet them. She is a creative thinker and executor who can keep both the big picture and details in mind, who is passionate about saving and growing journalism and who enjoys challenges spanning editorial, audience, revenue and innovation. She’s a natural problem solver and a trustworthy partner who knows how to get things done.”
“Jenn has built a career on steering newsrooms through important, difficult work and challenging times; from financial strife and restructures to ethical business models that keep journalism alive without compromising its integrity.”
Local News Bright Spots: promising models lighting the way
I'm honored to be the 2026 Bright Spots editor for Northwestern University's Medill State of Local News Report. This section highlights innovative local news outlets around the United States with lessons to share about filling news gaps, growing audiences and community impact, and achieving financial sustainability. The goal is to learn from each other so we can all make progress together.
READ THE REPORT →
Chicago Media Career Fair 2026 panel
Where can journalism take you next? At the Chicago Media Career Fair on Oct. 9, four professionals – Kaitlyn Jakola, Jennifer Kho, Kari Lydersen and Richard Ray – will share how they have built careers inside and beyond newsrooms in a panel moderated by Jillian Melero. Together, they'll discuss career decisions, transferable skills and how journalists can position their experiences for new opportunities.
Bringing readers back: real-world tactics for combating news fatigue
In this webinar, ONA26 presenters Angela Pacienza and Jennifer Kho return to redux and update their popular conference presentation, “Bringing Readers Back!” These timely case studies will address news avoidance in an era of unending content, offering attendees tactics and strategies to make their offerings more friendly and relatable, including creating entire new beats, broadening the scope of alerts, and re-thinking what makes an audience-first story mix.
What happened when the Chicago Sun-Times freed the news
Why we dropped our paywall
Audience engagement is a diversity strategy
The true cost of a job search
Hiring for the future
Lessons from newsrooms building member-driven journalism
Field notes on trustworthy, sustainable journalism.
Essays, research, and what I'm learning — roughly weekly. No noise, unsubscribe anytime.
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Consulting for organizations, teams and collaboratives, or confidential one-on-one coaching for individual leaders and founders — we’ll figure out the right fit together on the call.
Book a free intro call →Prefer email? jenn@kholab.org
