Business Insider hires Ari Isaacman D'Angelo as communications chief
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Business Insider on Monday will announce Ari Isaacman D'Angelo as its new chief communications officer, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: The company has faced a few crises and changes over the past few months without a C-suite executive in charge of communications, including a round of layoffs and a high-profile defamation fight with billionaire Bill Ackman.
Driving the news: D'Angelo is set to replace Mario Ruiz, who left the outlet last year.
- She will oversee communication efforts internally and externally, with a focus on promoting the company's journalism and amplifying the brand as it looks to refocus its coverage around business, technology and innovation.
- Insider rebranded to Business Insider last year, a nod back to its origins as a business and technology publication.
- D'Angelo will report to Barbara Peng, the recently promoted CEO of the company.
- She will also support Peng and Business Insider's revenue team in helping to "explain what it's doing in the marketplace," D'Angelo said in an interview.
Between the lines: D'Angelo formerly served as a managing director at FGS Global, an advisory firm that works with Axel Springer and other media companies.
- Before that she spent seven years at The New York Times in Washington D.C., starting as an audience editor in its newsroom and later serving as a spokesperson for the company. She joined The Times after serving as a spokesperson for the White House Office of Management and Budget.
Zoom in: D'Angelo is no stranger to crisis communications, having served as The Times' spokesperson during the Trump presidency.
- While she wouldn't speak to the Ackman case in particular, D'Angelo said it's "journalism's job in these cases to keep doing the hard work of reporting the truth, digging and sharing what's actually happening in the world with readers so that they can understand it."
The big picture: Isaacman D'Angelo's hiring comes shortly after Business Insider parent company Axel Springer appointed its first-ever U.S. leadership, which includes Nicholas Pacilio as head of communications.
- This signals that the media giant is looking to establish a more aligned public relations strategy across its U.S. properties.
- Brad Dayspring remains head of communications at Politico. Morning Brew doesn't have its own communications leader.
