Shani O. Hilton

Early life

Growing with a father who was a journalist, Hilton began working on the student newspaper in middle school, continuing at Bear Creek High School in Stockton, California, and then at Howard University where she studied journalism.

Career

Only a few years out of college, Hilton joined Buzzfeed in 2013 as senior editor, departing the Washington City Paper. She was promoted to executive editor in September 2014. Politico has called her "the youthful conscience of Buzzfeed News" and Recode calls her "Buzzfeed's Newsmaker in Chief." The New York Observer named her to a list of "10 Players in Media You Must Hire."

Hilton is regularly cited as an expert on topics like journalistic ethics, millennial audiences for newsmedia, and diversity in the newsroom. The latter owes particularly to the increased diversity of Buzzfeed staffing under Hilton's tenure, though she has emphasized the remaining room for improvement. She wrote a widely cited essay on the subject in 2014, entitled "Building A Diverse Newsroom Is Work."

Hilton lives in New York City.