Sean Greene promoted to assistant editor for visual storytelling

The following announcement was sent on behalf of Data and Graphics Editor Ben Welsh:

I am pleased to announce that Sean Greene has been promoted to the position of assistant editor for visual storytelling.

In this newly created role, Greene will lead our independent coverage of the newsroom’s top stories, driving data and graphics reporting in the vein of a recent series of stories about the California gubernatorial recall election. He’ll also spearhead enterprise partnerships similar to recent projects about extreme heat and coastal restoration.

Greene joined The Times as a digital editor in 2014. In the time since, he’s made every conceivable contribution. Reporting. Writing. Production. Design. Photography. Coding. Mapping. Analysis. Greene has done it all.

In recent months he scored a front-page trifecta by earning bylines on an A1 story, an A1 graphic and an A1 photograph — making him perhaps the first journalist to ever achieve the feat.

Greene’s commitment is unquestionable. After leading the initial development of our coronavirus tracker — the most popular page in the history of latimes.com — he spent hundreds of hours working on its expansion and eventual automation. When a mass shooting erupted late at night near his home in Thousand Oaks, he was the first Times reporter on the scene.

That drive, paired with a collegial attitude, has earned the admiration of his peers.

“No matter how long the day has been, Sean keeps me inspired and committed to the purpose of what we do,” said Rosanna Xia, a Times environment reporter and frequent collaborator. “I’m excited more people in the newsroom will get the Sean Greene touch.”

His work has been celebrated by the California Newspaper Publishers Assn., the Society for News Design and the Los Angeles Press Club.

Earlier in his career, Greene worked at the Orange County Register and freelanced for the Ventura County Star. A lifelong Californian, he received his undergraduate education at Moorpark College and UCLA. He earned a master’s in journalism at UC Berkeley. He’s taught journalism and advises the student newspaper at his alma mater, Moorpark.

Please join me in thanking Greene for taking on this role, which is certain to boost the quality and ambition of our visual report.