WASHINGTON – Radio Free Asia(RFA) today announced Greg Barber as RFA's Head of Digital Operations and Innovation - a new position that reports to RFA's Executive Editor. Barber will help lead the digital transformation of RFA's newsroom, overseeing critical efforts to adopt new systems and technologies for news gathering and to engage audiences. An industry veteran, he brings more than two decades of experience holding decision-making roles in establishing and shaping digital product development for modern news organizations.
"Greg is a proven innovator, whose extensive knowledge of news products and technologies will be invaluable to the organization," RFA Acting Executive Editor Mat Pennington said. "He is the ideal person to help us stay competitive in a fast-evolving media landscape for the benefit of our audiences in Asia and globally."
"I'm excited to join RFA, and to further its mission to bring insightful, trustworthy reporting to people in Asia and around the world who lack a free press," Barber said. "I look forward to collaborating with colleagues across RFA to evolve our technology, engage with our audiences, and optimize our impact."
In his role at RFA, Barber will oversee teams essential to the implementation of a new technology stack, which includes a new content management system and digital asset management system. This effort will aid RFA’s newsroom and its services in the creation and dissemination of journalism that engages audiences in Asia and globally. In addition, he will identify opportunities for expansion and experimentation across the organization.
Prior to joining RFA, Barber served as a Vice President of Product at Vox Media from 2021 to 2023, where he focused on optimizing editorial tools and driving audience engagement and subscription strategy. From 2003 to 2021, he worked at The Washington Post where he held a number of key positions including Managing Editor of WaPo Labs and Director of News Product. In these roles, Barber worked to deepen engagement and trust among Post readers through the development of audience-engagement software and best practices for the newsroom.
In 2014 Barber co-founded the Coral Project, a collaborative effort from The Washington Post, The New York Times and Mozilla to build an open-source commenting system and best practices for growing communities around journalism. Additionally, he served as a lecturer at American University from 2003 to 2004 and has conducted digital journalism workshops overseas, including in Myanmar. He began his career in 1997 at PBS's NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, first as a Desk Assistant then later a Digital News Editor.