NCR Names Pulitzer Prize Winner James Grimaldi Editor-in-Chief

NCR Names Pulitzer Prize Winner James Grimaldi Editor-in-Chief

James V. Grimaldi, a multiple Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter for The Wall Street Journal, has been named the new editor in chief of the National Catholic Reporter.

Grimaldi, who also led investigations at The Washington Post, is expected to begin Sept. 16, 2024. He will report to Joe Ferullo, CEO and publisher. Grimaldi will oversee all aspects of NCR’s editorial content, including breaking news, enterprise and investigative reporting, while adhering to NCR’s forward-thinking vision and reputation for excellence in journalism.

Grimaldi was a top staffer in the Journal’s investigative department in Washington, D.C. He provided accountability reporting that exposed critical stories for the Journal — and before that at the Post — about money, politics, influence peddling, corruption and lawbreaking by federal judges and government officials.

“NCR’s great tradition of accountability and investigative journalism exposed serious abuses, forcing the church to confront and respond to its sexual abuse scandal,” Grimaldi said, referring to NCR’s years of groundbreaking reporting on clergy abuse, which began in 1985. “That fearless journalism is vital as the United States remains divided over cultural issues, the American church reflects those divisions, and the global church approaches a crossroads at the end of Francis’ papacy.”

Now celebrating its 60th anniversary, NCR is the leading independent national Catholic newspaper in the United States, with approximately 1 million unique online readers each month. NCR has won more than three dozen citations from the Catholic Media Association this year, including the three major investigative journalism awards. The paper’s work has been featured in outlets such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, NPR and NBC News.

“James is committed to continuing the mission and spirit of NCR. He will elevate and expand NCR’s outstanding journalism at a pivotal moment in the history of the Catholic Church. All of us here — including our readers — look forward to his extraordinary editorial leadership during this exciting and pivotal time,” Ferullo said.

Grimaldi is originally from Kansas City, Missouri, and is a graduate of the University of Missouri Journalism School and Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. His relationship with NCR began when he was a student at the Jesuit-run Rockhurst High School in Kansas City. Teachers there gave him a copy of the paper and encouraged him to read it.

Grimaldi has worked on three Pulitzer Prize-winning projects. His team at the Journal won the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting for exposing conflicts of interest among top federal officials. At The Washington Post, Grimaldi and two colleagues won the 2006 Pulitzer for investigative reporting for exposing the Jack Abramoff bribery scandal. He also contributed to a Pulitzer won by the Orange County Register in California in 1996.

He has been a teacher and mentor, serving as the Ferris Professor of Journalism at Princeton University and a Knight-Bagehot fellow at Columbia University. He has held leadership roles with Investigative Reporters and Editors, The Fund for Investigative Journalism, and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.

He will oversee and direct NCR’s editorial operations from Washington, DC.

Grimaldi is married, has two grown sons, two dogs and three cats, and is active in his parish, St. Peter’s Church on Capitol Hill. He recently returned from a parish-led mission to Haiti, where the group helped repair and restock the Notre Dame d’Altagrace church and school.