ESPN hires Roxanna Scott as top editor after year of departures

ESPN has hired Roxanna Scott as its new top editor to oversee newsgathering across TV and digital, according to Ryan Glasspiegel and Michael McCarthy of Front Office Sports.

Scott will serve as SVP, editor-in-chief — a newly created role that consolidates editorial leadership for the first time in years. She’ll handle investigations and enterprise work while reporting to Dave Roberts from Bristol.

Scott comes from USA Today, where she spent nearly 20 years and finished as executive editor and VP of sports. She joined The Athletic earlier this year as managing editor of the daily desk before ESPN came calling, according to FOS.

The position didn’t exist until ESPN’s editorial department lost multiple leaders this year. Executive editor Cristina Daglas was placed on administrative leave in January following HR complaints, FOS previously reported. Daglas’s attorney sent ESPN a cease-and-desist letter in March alleging “unlawful harassment, retaliation, and investigation,” calling the proceedings “wholly meritless and unsubstantiated.” ESPN fired Daglas in April. She landed at Monumental Basketball in October as head of research and identity.

Senior deputy editor Elizabeth Baugh was also placed on leave during the Daglas investigation. Outkick reported ESPN considered Baugh’s friendship with Daglas an impediment to the investigation. Baugh left for Ring Magazine in April. Additionally, Heather Burns, senior deputy editor for NFL coverage, also departed the company for a role with USA Today.

FOS notes the structure mirrors what ESPN ran under Vince Doria, the former Boston Globe sports editor who oversaw the news desk until retiring in 2015. ESPN distributed those responsibilities after Doria left rather than replacing him with a single leader.