Shani Hilton
{{short description|Journalist and editor}}
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| name = Shani Hilton
| image = Shani O. Hilton (cropped).jpg
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| caption = Shani Hilton in 2017
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| birth_name = Shani Olisa Hilton
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| nationality = American
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| alma_mater = Howard University
| occupation = Editor
Media Executive
| years_active = 2010 - present
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| employer = Los Angeles Times
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| website = {{url|https://www.buzzfeed.com/shani}}
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Shani Olisa Hilton (born 1986) is an American journalist and media executive, formerly the Deputy Managing Editor at the Los Angeles Times.{{Cite web|last=Company news|date=2020-04-01|title=Times announces promotions, new roles among newsroom management team|url=https://www.latimes.com/about/pressreleases/story/2020-04-01/times-announces-promotions-new-roles-among-newsroom-management-team|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-06-19|website=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US}}{{Cite web|last=Barr|first=Jeremy|date=2019-04-03|title=Shani Hilton Leaving BuzzFeed News for Los Angeles Times (Exclusive)|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/shani-hilton-leaving-buzzfeed-news-los-angeles-times-1199198|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-06-19|website=The Hollywood Reporter|language=en}}{{cite news |last1=Knolle |first1=Sharon |title=LA Times Managing Editors Shani Hilton, Sara Yasin Step Down Ahead of Layoffs |url=https://www.thewrap.com/la-times-managing-editors-shani-hilton-sara-yasin-step-down/ |access-date=18 June 2024 |work=TheWrap |date=22 January 2024}} Prior to the Times, Hilton was the executive editor at BuzzFeed News.{{cite news|last1=Engbith|first1=Lily|title=An Interview with Shani Hilton, Executive Editor at BuzzFeed News {{!}} The Politic|url=http://thepolitic.org/an-interview-with-shani-hilton-executive-editor-for-buzzfeed-news/|accessdate=15 July 2016|work=thepolitic.org|date=September 24, 2015}}
Early life
Growing up with a journalist father, Hilton began working on the student newspaper in middle school and continued at Bear Creek High School in Stockton, California.{{cite news|last1=Barr|first1=Jeremy|title=Meet Shani Hilton, the youthful conscience of Buzzfeed News|url=http://www.politico.com/media/story/2015/01/meet-shani-hilton-the-youthful-conscience-of-buzzfeed-news-003297|accessdate=15 July 2016|work=Politico|date=January 8, 2015}} She attended Howard University in D.C. and studied journalism.
Career
Only a few years out of college,{{cite news|last1=Johnson|first1=Eric|title=Meet Shani Hilton, BuzzFeed's Newsmaker in Chief|url=http://www.recode.net/2016/1/21/11588966/meet-shani-hilton-buzzfeeds-newsmaker-in-chief|accessdate=16 July 2016|work=Recode|date=21 January 2016}} Hilton joined Buzzfeed in 2013 as senior editor, after working at Washington City Paper{{cite news|last1=Rothstein|first1=Betsy|title=BuzzFeed Brings Shani Hilton on Board|url=http://www.adweek.com/fishbowldc/buzzfeed-brings-shani-hilton-on-board/95121|accessdate=16 July 2016|work=Fishbowl DC|date=January 17, 2013}} and NBC Washington. She was promoted to executive editor in September 2014.{{cite news|last1=Cision Staff|title=Shani Hilton Upped at BuzzFeed {{!}} Cision|url=http://www.cision.com/us/2014/09/shani-hilton-upped-at-buzzfeed/|accessdate=16 July 2016|work=Cision|date=26 September 2014}} Politico has called her "the youthful conscience of Buzzfeed News"{{cite news|last1=Barr|first1=Jeremy|title=Meet Shani Hilton, the youthful conscience of Buzzfeed News|url=http://www.politico.com/media/story/2015/01/meet-shani-hilton-the-youthful-conscience-of-buzzfeed-news-003297|accessdate=15 July 2016|work=Politico|date=January 8, 2015}} and Recode calls her "Buzzfeed's Newsmaker in Chief."{{cite news|last1=Johnson|first1=Eric|title=Meet Shani Hilton, BuzzFeed's Newsmaker in Chief|url=http://www.recode.net/2016/1/21/11588966/meet-shani-hilton-buzzfeeds-newsmaker-in-chief|accessdate=15 July 2016|work=Recode|date=21 January 2016}} The New York Observer named her to a list of "10 Players in Media You Must Hire."{{cite news|last1=Bloomgarden-Smoke|first1=Karen|title=The Poachables: 10 Players in Media You Must Hire|url=http://observer.com/2016/05/top-10-most-poachable-players-in-media/|accessdate=16 July 2016|work=New York Observer|date=16 May 2016}}
Hilton is regularly cited as an expert on topics like journalistic ethics,{{cite news|title=Web Exclusive: Should beheading video be seen on TV and allowed on Twitter?|url=http://reliablesources.blogs.cnn.com/2014/08/24/web-exclusive-should-beheading-video-be-seen-on-tv-and-allowed-on-twitter/|accessdate=16 July 2016|work=CNN Reliable Sources|date=August 24, 2014|archive-date=20 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210420202232/https://reliablesources.blogs.cnn.com/2014/08/24/web-exclusive-should-beheading-video-be-seen-on-tv-and-allowed-on-twitter/|url-status=dead}} millennial audiences for newsmedia,{{cite web|title=BuzzFeed's Shani Hilton: Millennials don't need their own news - American Press Institute|url=https://www.americanpressinstitute.org/need-to-know/up-for-debate/buzzfeeds-shani-hilton-millennials-dont-need-their-own-news/|website=American Press Institute|accessdate=16 July 2016|date=22 January 2016}} and diversity in the newsroom.{{cite news|title=Shani O. Hilton on Building a Newsroom at BuzzFeed|url=http://niemanreports.org/articles/shani-o-hilton-on-building-a-newsroom-at-buzzfeed/|accessdate=16 July 2016|work=Nieman Reports|language=en}}{{Cite magazine|last=Pompeo|first=Joe|title="An Inequality Desk That's Led by Only White Men": At BuzzFeed, a New Editor Confronts a Diversity Problem|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/06/buzzfeed-confronts-a-diversity-problem|access-date=2020-06-19|magazine=Vanity Fair|date=12 June 2020 |language=en-us}} She wrote a widely cited essay on the subject in 2014, entitled "Building A Diverse Newsroom Is Work."{{cite news|last1=Rosen|first1=Jay|title=Review and comment on the launch of Nate Silver's FiveThirtyEight.com for ESPN. » Pressthink|url=http://pressthink.org/2014/03/review-and-comment-on-the-launch-of-nate-silvers-fivethirtyeight-com-for-espn/|accessdate=16 July 2016|work=Pressthink.org|date=March 20, 2014}}
References
{{reflist|30em}}
{{BuzzFeed}}
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Category:African-American women journalists
Category:African-American journalists
Category:21st-century American non-fiction writers
Category:Howard University alumni
Category:Writers from California
Category:American women non-fiction writers
Category:21st-century American women writers
Category:21st-century African-American women writers
Category:21st-century African-American writers