Media News
Dallas Morning News appoints Colleen McCain Nelson as executive editor

The Dallas Morning News has finally appointed a new editor: According to a release, Colleen McCain Nelson has been named Executive Editor of The Dallas Morning News, effective August 11. Nelson, a Pulitzer Prize winner, returns to lead the newsroom where she spent nearly 12 years as a writer early in her career.
She most recently has been Executive Editor of The Sacramento Bee and the California regional editor for McClatchy Media, overseeing five newsrooms: The Sacramento Bee, The Fresno Bee, The Modesto Bee, The San Luis Obispo Tribune, and the Merced Sun-Star.
She replaces Katrice Hardy, who left The News in February to become CEO of The Marshall Project.
DMN publisher Grant Moise says in a statement that they conducted a nationwide search, calling her "an outstanding journalist" who's been at the forefront of journalism’s digital transformation.
Nelson spent more than a decade at The News, where she wrote about local, state, and national politics as a reporter and later as an editorial writer and columnist. In 2010, Nelson and her colleagues at The News were awarded the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing, recognition for a series of editorials that condemned the stark economic and social disparity separating Dallas’ thriving northern half and struggling southern half.
“While my career has taken me to the West Coast and even the White House, I learned about the power of local journalism at The Dallas Morning News," Nelson says. "The chance to build on The Dallas Morning News’ distinguished legacy, current momentum, and innovative vision for the future is a singular opportunity in journalism.”
Nelson, 51, was raised in Salina, Kansas, and is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Kansas. She started her career as a reporter at the Wichita Eagle and covered local and state government for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
She previously worked as a White House correspondent for The Wall Street Journal and as a political reporter, chronicling two presidential campaigns. In 2016, she criss-crossed the country with Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. As a White House reporter, she wrote about the policies, politics and personalities in President Barack Obama’s administration, traveling the world with the president and vice president.