Emily L 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.

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 during which time she 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.

Barr is the former head of the ABC Board of Governors and the NBC Affiliates Board and is 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 Center for Public Interest Reporting, The Carole Kneeland Project for Responsible Journalism and Carleton College.

A 1980 graduate of Carleton College, Barr 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 adult children.