The 19th is thrilled to announce that LaSharah S. Bunting, a veteran journalist and distinguished news industry executive, is joining us as our first vice president. Bunting, the current CEO and executive director of the Online News Association, will scale up The 19th’s fundraising capacity and lead our development, finance and budgeting operations, helping to sustain our critical independent journalism.
Bunting has led the Online News Association, one of the largest nonprofit membership organizations for journalists, since early 2023. Previously she was vice president and executive editor at Simon & Schuster, where she acquired and edited nonfiction books. Before that, she made grants that advanced equity and inclusion in our field as the director of the journalism portfolio at the Knight Foundation. She also spent more than a decade at The New York Times, where she led digital transformation efforts across the newsroom after several years spent overseeing breaking news, multimedia projects and audience engagement on the national desk. Bunting began her career as an editor at The Dallas Morning News.
Bunting is a force in our industry, and has devoted her career to improving racial and gender representation in news. Beyond her day job, she serves on the boards of The Lenfest Institute, Outlier Media, Open Campus and the Dow Jones News Fund. She volunteers as a mentor for the Emma Bowen Foundation’s career activation program. She’s also an alumna of the Sulzberger Executive Leadership Program at Columbia University and the Maynard Media Academy.
Bunting is currently South Florida-based, but a proud Nebraska native and graduate of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where she serves on the College of Journalism’s advisory board. In her spare time she cooks and bakes, consumes deeply reported podcasts and books, and leans on meditation and strength training to keep energized and focused.
