Miami Herald’s new opinion editor comes from a family of journalists

Amy Driscoll, a 30-year veteran of the Miami Herald, will lead the media company’s editorial department as opinion editor.

In her new role, Driscoll will also serve as Florida opinion editor, coordinating opinion content between the Miami Herald, el Nuevo Herald and the Bradenton Herald for McClatchy, the parent company of the three publications.

“Miami is such a wonderful, wild place but it also has lots of long-term problems that desperately need attention. And that’s the emphasis I hope to bring to this new role: encouraging and guiding a community conversation while also serving as a watchdog for citizens,” said Driscoll, who is being promoted from her current role as deputy editorial page editor.

Driscoll’s 2022 “Broken Promises” series in May was honored with the Pulitzer Prize, journalism’s top award. The five-part series focused on the failure of politicians and developers to follow through on vows to build parks, revive historic South Florida neighborhoods and boost transportation.

READ MORE: “Broken Promises’ kept one journalist’s pledge to readers and was richly rewarded

Her watchdog drive and local knowledge was the basis of the Broken Promises series of editorials, Driscoll said. “I’ve lived and worked in this community for a long time.”

Driscoll, a 2003 Nieman Fellow at Harvard University, succeeds Nancy Ancrum, who announced her plans to retire in November after leading the editorial board for 10 years. Ancrum will lead the editorial team through December, and Driscoll will take over in January.

Driscoll’s roles

Driscoll joined the Herald’s opinion team in February 2021 after 28 years as a news reporter covering beats ranging from courts to politics and as an editor overseeing health, politics and Americas coverage.

In 2020, Driscoll oversaw the Herald’s COVID-19 pandemic coverage and also guided coverage of the national presidential election.

“And she has helped lead the opinion team’s strong coverage of Florida governor and Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis,” Peter St. Onge, opinion editor for McClatchy, the Herald’s parent company, said in an email to the Miami Herald’s staff.

“Amy Driscoll is a respected, award-winning journalist deeply rooted in South Florida,” said Alex Mena, executive editor of the Miami Herald and el Nuevo Herald.

“She knows this community’s challenges well and is fearless in holding local and state leaders accountable, and helping keep our government in the sunshine. As our new opinion editor, Amy is the perfect choice to lead a team of editorial writers and columnists to offer our readers insightful, concise and analytical perspectives on issues that affect their daily lives,” Mena said.

Before the Herald, Driscoll worked at the Palm Beach Post for seven years in the late-’80s, covering local government in Palm Beach County, courts and police, and serving as a correspondent in Tallahassee.

“I think that she is going to be a calm, steady and focused hand as she leads the the editorial board,” Ancrum said. “She has such deep news coverage experience that she is going to excel. Look, anyone who was both political editor and health editor during the years of COVID and the 2020 presidential elections cannot fail.”

Added David Lawrence Jr., chair of The Children’s Movement of Florida and former Miami Herald publisher: “For years I’ve admired her lifelong appetite for listening and learning. Amy is a splendid example of the blending of wisdom and integrity.”

Second-generation journalist

The Kentucky-born Driscoll, who earned a communication degree from Florida Atlantic University, is a second-generation journalist.

“I’ve been fortunate to have had great journalism role models in my own family,” she said. Her late father was journalist James Driscoll. He was a reporter, an editor, a columnist and eventually an editorial writer at the Sun Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale. Her late aunt, Mary Shane, was a sports journalist at the Worcester Telegram. “The first female journalist allowed into the Boston Celtics locker room. She faced a lot of discrimination but refused to let it stop her,” Driscoll said.

“My dad taught me that journalism isn’t just a job, it’s a privilege, and that you have a deep responsibility to the community you serve. I feel that way more than ever today,” Driscoll said.

Opinion journalism’s role

“We live in an increasingly divided world but I think journalism, and especially opinion journalism, can help by elevating voices that might not otherwise be heard and creating a conversation instead of a shouting match. As the voice of the Herald, I think we also have to be unflinching in speaking up to correct a wrong or shed light on an injustice. Equally, we need to encourage the many positive things happening in our community. There are so many of them, but we don’t always hear about them,” Driscoll said.