
Richard Tofel
Richard Tofel was the founding general manager of ProPublica from 2007-2012, and served as president from January 2013-September 2021.
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Richard Tofel was the founding general manager of ProPublica from 2007-2012, and served as president from January 2013-September 2021. In this role, he had responsibility for all of ProPublica’s non-journalism operations, including communications, legal, development, finance and budgeting, and human resources.
He was formerly the assistant publisher of The Wall Street Journal and, earlier, an assistant managing editor of the paper, vice president, corporate communications for Dow Jones & Company, and an assistant general counsel of Dow Jones. More recently, he served as vice president, general counsel and secretary of the Rockefeller Foundation, and earlier as president and chief operating officer of the International Freedom Center, a museum and cultural center that was planned for the World Trade Center site.
He is the author of “Not Shutting Up: A Year of Reflections on Journalism” (2020); “‘A Federal Offense of the Highest Order’: The True Story of How the Joint Chiefs Spied on Nixon, And How He Covered It Up” (2019); “Speaking Truth in Power: Lessons for Our Sorry Politics from Our Inspiring History” (2018); “Home Run Revolution: Babe Ruth in His Time, 1919-1920” (2015); “Non-Profit Journalism: Issues Around Impact” (2013); “Why American Newspapers Gave Away the Future” (2012); “Eight Weeks in Washington, 1861: Abraham Lincoln and the Hazards of Transition” (2011); “Restless Genius: Barney Kilgore, The Wall Street Journal, and the Invention of Modern Journalism” (2009); “Sounding the Trumpet: The Making of John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address” (2005); “Vanishing Point: The Disappearance of Judge Crater, and the New York He Left Behind” (2004); and “A Legend in the Making: The New York Yankees in 1939” (2002).
Bancroft Family Members Express Regrets at Selling Wall Street Journal to Murdoch
If we knew now what we could have known then, we would have blocked deal, several say.
by Richard Tofel,
Kindle Singles from Amazon Features ProPublica Content
Amazon.com is today launching Kindle Singles, ebook versions of narrative writing longer than almost all magazine articles, but shorter than traditional books. We're delighted to report that ProPublica stories will be included in the Kindle Singles collection.
by Richard Tofel,
Why We’re Publishing Advertising, and Where We Stand on Funding
ProPublica will begin publishing advertising on its web site, and likely soon we’ll include it as well in our daily email, on our mobile site and in our iPad app.
by Richard Tofel,
Why WikiLeaks' 'War Logs' Are No Pentagon Papers
The historical importance the Pentagon Papers far outweighs the probable impact of the new Afghanistan documents. And Nixon's response was likely far different than President Obama's will be.
by Richard Tofel,
Results of Our 2010 Reader Survey
ProPublica readers like our longer stories, are generally happy with what we’re doing, and are a demographic dream, our most recent survey found.
by Richard Tofel,