RFE/RL Vice President and Editor in Chief Daisy Sindelar to Depart
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) announced today that Vice President and Editor in Chief Daisy Sindelar has taken the decision to step down from the company to pursue other projects. Her last day will be September 30, 2022.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) announced today that Vice President and Editor in Chief Daisy Sindelar has taken the decision to step down from the company to pursue other projects. Her last day will be September 30, 2022.
Sindelar, who spent 21 years at RFE/RL, was named Editor in Chief in 2019, leading news strategy across RFE/RL’s 23 markets during an eventful period that has witnessed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the COVID-19 pandemic, the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan, and the company’s return to Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria. RFE/RL, which now reaches 37 million people weekly, recently won an Online Journalism Award for its breaking news coverage of the early hours of the war in Ukraine.
“Daisy has been an integral part of our company for the past two decades, and we will miss her significant contributions to our work and her dedication to the needs of our audiences,” said Jamie Fly, President and CEO of RFE/RL. “The transition will be significant, but her legacy and accomplishments will continue to influence our work for years to come.”
As Editor in Chief, Sindelar transformed RFE/RL’s News Division, driving content evolution with the hire of the company’s first Head of Digital Strategy, and pushing for circumvention strategies in fighting state censorship. Sindelar honed her focus on internet freedom and journalist safety during her years as Channel Director of RFE/RL’s global Russian news platform Current Time, a period that marked a sharp rise in disinformation and attacks on free speech across Russia and all RFE/RL target markets.
“It has been the privilege of a lifetime to work alongside RFE/RL’s brave and committed journalists, many of whom put their lives at risk every day for the simple act of reporting the truth,” said Sindelar. “I’m grateful to Jamie Fly, to RFE/RL’s board members, and all of my remarkable RFE/RL colleagues for fighting to preserve our audiences’ right to be informed.”
In addition to her tenure as Editor in Chief, Sindelar also served as Acting President three times between 2019 and 2021. Sindelar joined RFE/RL in 2001 as an editor and correspondent in the company’s Prague headquarters, and has reported from Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, the Balkans, and Mongolia.
Effective October 1, 2022, Jeremy Bransten, RFE/RL’s Regional Director for Europe, will serve as acting Editor in Chief. A search for Sindelar’s permanent successor will commence in the coming months.
For more information, contact press@rferl.org.