Heather Burns has joined USA TODAY as its first women's sports editor. She will lead women's sports content strategy across the USA TODAY Network collaboratively with national and local editors and writers to build on its industry-leading coverage and the recently launched USA TODAY Studio IX.
A career sports journalist who has spent more than 35 years in the industry, Burns most recently led ESPN's digital NFL team. She spent 17 years at ESPN, working as a senior editor and as deputy editor of espnW before taking over the NFL.
She returns home, having begun her journalism career at Gannett. She started as a high school sports reporter in Iowa City before transitioning from reporter to editor, first as a copy editor and then assistant sports editor at The Detroit News.
