HuffPost picks Danielle Belton as new editor-in-chief

HuffPost has picked Danielle Belton to be its new editor-in-chief, filling a position that has been empty for a year.

Currently, Belton is editor-in-chief of The Root, a Black-focused news and culture media brand owned by G/O Media.

HuffPost’s executive editor, Richard Kim, congratulated Belton on Twitter.

Big @huffpost welcome!! to @blacksnob https://t.co/Au50dyDllq

— Richard Kim (@RichardKimNYC) March 24, 2021

The Daily Beast first reported the news after obtaining an internal memo from BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti. BuzzFeed bought HuffPost earlier this year.

“I wanted to share some exciting news with you,” Peretti wrote. “To be totally transparent — we were going to announce this tomorrow, but are accelerating plans because we have a leak. I’m pleased to announce that Danielle Belton is the new Editor-in-Chief of HuffPost.”

Lydia Polgreen, HuffPost’s previous editor-in-chief, left the company in March of last year, to join podcast company Gimlet. 

HuffPost recently laid off 47 staffers in the U.S., closed its Canadian newsroom and was preparing to reduce staff in the United Kingdom just weeks after it was acquired by BuzzFeed from Verizon Media on Feb. 16.