Ken Herts

Chief Operating Officer and Director of Operations

Ken Herts is Chief Operating Officer of The Lenfest Institute for Journalism and is responsible for its programs, grants, and operations.  

Before joining the Institute, Ken worked as a consultant for Empirical Media, helping media clients build growth strategies, develop operating plans, and effectively shift from print to digital revenue streams. He also took on projects as a Managing Director of Oaklins | DeSilva+Phillips, a mid-market investment bank.

Prior to that, Ken spent 29 years at Dow Jones in a number of leadership, finance, product, and technology roles. He was Vice President, Finance of its Consumer Media Group, a billion-dollar business unit that included The Wall Street Journal, MarketWatch, Barron’s, and other properties. He also served as VP & General Manager of Dow Jones Newswires, leading the product strategy and operations of this global financial news organization. Before that, he was Publisher of The Wall Street Journal Europe, based in Brussels, at the time a 100,000-circulation newspaper concentrated in ten major European cities. 

Ken graduated from Brown University and received an MBA and a Master’s in Journalism from Columbia University. Ken has completed a marathon and two half-triathlons. He lives in Mercer County, New Jersey with his wife and dog.