• by Fern Siegel , May 8, 2017

Former New York Daily News editor-in-chief Jim Rich has been named executive editor for HuffPost. The Web site says his hire is the first of future high-level newsroom postings.

Rich, who joins the site May 15, is charged with overseeing all news coverage, working with Editor-in-Chief, Lydia Polgreen. She stated he is "a gutsy tabloid editor in the best and truest sense, an embodiment of the shoe-leather approach we want to take in our reporting in this next era of HuffPost.”

Rich joined the Daily News in 2002 from the New York Post, beginning in the sports department. Four years ago, he was named executive editor, then promoted to lead digital content the following year. In late 2015, he was named Editor-in-Chief, taking the reins from Colin Myler, who returned to London.

Under his direction, the Daily News confronted issues of gun control, social justice and police brutality and won its first Pulitzer Prize for Public Service Journalism. 

He calls Polgreen's vision for a news organization "inspiring," adding "HuffPost will become the standard for digital journalism under her watch."

The company has been revamping since Polgreen's appointment: new logo, site redesign and a name change to HuffPost. The site also rolled out “splash cards” for HuffPost stories to further extend the brand across social media.

Huffpost, part of AOL, claims 200 million viewers monthly and includes 17 editions worldwide.