Maite Fernández Simon


Audience Growth Strategist | Newsroom leader

About

Hi! My name is Maite Fernández Simon and I'm a bilingual journalist and digital strategist with more than a decade of experience in digital media.I'm an Audience Strategy Editor at The Washington Post, embedded in the Business and Tech sections. As part of this leadership role, I set and implement a data-driven, audience-first content strategy along with the head of the section and assignment editors. Before that, I spent close to a year working as a breaking news reporter at The Post as part of my "Opportunity Year," a career development program. Previously, I was an Operations Editor and Senior Operations Editor, optimizing stories and digital coverage for SEO, analyzing traffic patterns to inform our editorial strategy, and training staff in new tools and best practices. I also worked as Engagement Strategist for CQ Roll Call, managing their social media and newsletter strategy, optimizing headlines for the web and analyzing traffic trends. Before that, I spent 5 years at the non-profit ICFJ in a number roles, spending four of those years leading teams.Aside from my day job, I spent three years working as a digital consultant for independent news organizations in Latin America as part of Velocidad, a media accelerator by SembraMedia.
Get in touch!

CLIPS

TALKS AND MEDIA APPEARANCES

Speaking engagements and trainings
-Participated in the panel “BLANK is the future of journalism” organized by USC Annenberg professor Robert Hernandez at the ONA conference, 2023.
-How to make your newsroom more data-driven, training for Brazilian media executives organized by CUNY, May 2023
-The Washington Post's Latine and Hispanic leaders panel - panel on career and Latino identity as part of Hispanic Heritage month, 10/4/23
-Moderated the Product Thinking in Newsrooms panel, NAHJ conference, 7/12/21
-Conversatorio de SembraMedia: Creación y gestión de Comunidades, 4/20/21
-My career as a digital journalist and today’s digital landscape, Universidad Católica Argentina, 10/14/20
-Audience Engagement trainings as part of an ICFJ program, summer and fall of 2019
-Session on metrics with Latin American journalists as part of an ICFJ program, 10/17/19
-Intro to Python class for women as part of Hear Me Code, Aug. 2014 - Jan. 2015
-Open data initiatives panel, World Bank’s Open Impact Day, June 2015
-My career as a journalist and today’s digital landscape, ORT University, Uruguay, 7/8/20
Media hits
-Child marriage in Guatemala - El Post en Español podcast. 3/10/21
-The aftermath of the Capitol riots radio appearance, Así Nos Va, Uruguay. 1/11/21
-Radio hit on the U.S. election and the coronavirus pandemic. Radio El Espectador, Uruguay. 8/21/20

AWARDS

-Selected to the inaugural cohort of NAHJ's Adelante Academy, a 6-month leadership program for Latinas in newsrooms, Jan. 2024
-ONA Women's Leadership Accelerator, 2020 cohort
-WaPo's Publisher's Award for the online coverage of the Paul Manafort trial, August 2018
-University of Maryland's Merrill Fellowship, 2010-2011