Emily Barr

Emily Barr retired in June, 2022 after a 43-year career in broadcast television, the last ten of which she spent as President and Chief Executive Officer of Graham Media Group, a subsidiary of Graham Holdings, Inc. formerly known as The Washington Post Company. During her tenure, she led seven local media hubs in Houston, Detroit, Orlando, San Antonio, Jacksonville and Roanoke, representing just over 7% coverage of the U.S. as well as the nationally recognized Social News Desk, a leading provider of social media management tools designed to connect newsrooms with their users.

Under Barr’s leadership, Graham Media Group was named the 2021 Station Group of the Year by TV News Check and was awarded 2016 Station Group of the Year by Broadcasting and Cable Magazine.

Barr’s career began in Minneapolis/St. Paul as a News Editor and News Promotion Specialist and took her to television stations in Washington, DC, Houston, Baltimore, Raleigh/Durham and Chicago where she led the ABC owned television station there for over 15 years before assuming her role at Graham Media Group. Barr helped create and develop The Live Well Network for ABC, its first-ever national digital outlet that aired on nearly 70% of U.S. television stations in the early to mid 2000’s.

A nationally respected leader known for her empathy and quick wit, Barr is the former head of the ABC Board of Governors and the NBC Affiliates Board and was the former TV Chair of the National Association of Broadcasters working on the front lines with her colleagues as they grappled with unprecedented disruption across the broadcast media landscape. She has twice testified before key Senate and House committees regarding the critical importance of local journalism to the health of our democracy.

Barr currently serves on the boards of the Associated Press, The Maine Monitor and Carleton College where she currently leads the Student Life Committee and is a member of its Executive Committee. She has devoted herself to numerous non-profits having served on the boards of The Maine, Journalism Foundation, The Chicago Academy for the Arts, The Chicago Food Depository and United Cerebral Palsy of Greater Chicago. Barr is a graduate of Carleton College and holds a Masters of Business Administration from George Washington University.

Barr and her husband Scott live in Cape Elizabeth, Maine and are the parents of two wonderful children.