James V. Grimaldi (J. Scott Applewhite)
James V. Grimaldi, a multiple Pulitzer Prize winner and investigative reporter for The Wall Street Journal, has been named the new executive editor of the National Catholic Reporter.
Grimaldi, who has also led investigations at The Washington Post, is set to start Sept. 16, 2024. He will report to Joe Ferullo, CEO and Publisher. Grimaldi will oversee all aspects of NCR's editorial content, including breaking, enterprise and investigative reporting, while adhering to NCR's forward-looking vision and its reputation for excellence in journalism.
A leading force on the Journal's investigations desk based in Washington, D.C., Grimaldi delivered accountability reporting that uncovered critical stories for the Journal — and before that at the Post — about money, politics, influence peddling, corruption and law-breaking by federal judges and government officials.
"NCR's great tradition of accountability and investigative reporting exposed grievous wrongs that led the church to confront and respond to its sexual abuse scandal," Grimaldi said, referring to NCR's years of ground-breaking reports on clergy abuse that began in 1985. "That fearless journalism is vitally needed as the United States remains divided on cultural issues, the American church reflects those divisions and the global church approaches a crossroads near the end of the Francis papacy."
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Now marking its 60th anniversary, NCR is the leading independent national Catholic newspaper in the United States, with about 1 million unique online readers monthly. NCR won more than three dozen citations this year from the Catholic Media Association, including the three top investigative reporting awards. Its 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 dedicated to carrying forward the mission and spirit of NCR. He will elevate and expand NCR's excellent 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 in this exciting and decisive time," Ferullo said.
Grimaldi is a native of Kansas City, Missouri, and 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 Kansas City's Jesuit-run Rockhurst High School. Teachers there gave him a copy of the paper and recommended he read it.
Grimaldi has worked on three projects that won the Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting. His team at the Journal was awarded the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting for exposing conflicts of interest among senior federal officials. At The Washington Post, Grimaldi and two colleagues won the investigative reporting Pulitzer in 2006 for exposing the Jack Abramoff bribery scandal. He also contributed to a Pulitzer won in 1996 by the Orange County Register in California.
He has been an educator and mentor, serving as a 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 guide NCR's editorial operation from Washington, D.C.
Grimaldi is married with 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 resupply Notre Dame d'Altagrace church and school.
