Manny García

Manny García, an award-winning investigative reporter, leads the Lee Caplin School of Journalism & Media at Florida International University as the inaugural Knight Foundation executive director.

He previously was senior editor of the ProPublica-Texas Tribune Investigative Initiative, standards and ethics editor for the USA TODAY NETWORK, and editor of the Naples Daily News. García spent 23 years as a reporter and editor at the Miami Herald and executive editor of El Nuevo Herald, covering many of South Florida’s most high-profile stories.

He served on two Pulitzer Prize-winning teams, investigating voter fraud in a 1997 Miami city election and documenting the 2000 raid that resulted in Elian Gonzalez reuniting with his Cuban father. During García’s tenure as editor of El Nuevo Herald, the newspaper was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2010 for its coverage of the Haiti earthquake, the first such recognition for a Spanish­-language media outlet.

“Manny García is one of the nation’s pre-eminent investigative journalists and newsroom leaders,” said Mizell Stewart III, vice president of content for the newspaper division of the E.W. Scripps Company, parent of the Daily News.

“His passion for great storytelling, his ability to build outstanding newsroom teams and his focus on serving news consumers on multiple platforms is a great addition to Scripps.”

García joined the journalism industry later than most, graduating from Florida International University and breaking in at the Miami Herald in his late 20s. Before that, García worked as an emergency medical technician, beauty supply salesman, and several other jobs.