Sherwood Names Fedida, Ruffolo and Mercandetti to Senior Posts at ABC News

April 19, 2011— -- ABC News President Ben Sherwood announced three additions to his senior leadership team at ABC News:

I'm happy to share news about new members of my senior team.

Barbara Fedida is returning to ABC News on Wednesday as Senior Vice President for Talent and Business. Many of you already know Barbara from her many years at ABC News as an award-winning producer for Peter Jennings both at World News Tonight and his documentary unit.

During her time at ABC, Barbara worked on virtually every major story. She covered the first and second Gulf Wars, the Timothy McVeigh execution, the Northridge earthquake, Pope John Paul's visit to Cuba, and the drug war in South America. Barbara was also a key senior producer on many ABC News efforts including the Millennium broadcast, the attacks of September 11 and Peter Jennings' 9/11 children's special.

Barbara moved on to work in our standards and practices department and then became a talent executive who helped hire and advise many of you.

For the past several years, Barbara worked as the top talent executive at CBS News where she tried hard to compete with ABC News; she will be the first to tell you that it wasn't easy.

The hiring and development of the very best journalists is a top priority for our news division. Barbara is a thoughtful, energetic and creative executive who will be charged primarily with attracting the finest reporters and producers in the world. She will also ensure that we do everything we can to develop and nurture the considerable talent already working within this organization.

Barbara is well known for her instincts and judgment. Her advice and counsel will be of great value to me – and all of you – in every aspect of our work and business.

Joe Ruffolo joins us Wednesday as Senior Vice President, ABC News Digital.

Specifically, Joe will be charged with building on the success of ABC News Digital and charting a bold course to greater impact, reach and revenue.

Joe is a proven leader, strategist and team player with valuable experience in key roles across the media landscape. From 1996 to 1998, Joe worked on the team that helped build CNN Interactive in Atlanta. He earned an MBA from Emory, worked at MTV Networks and AOL, negotiating and planning online content distribution and licensing partnerships around the globe. He also played a leading role developing new programming and launching sites.