OPC Foundation Welcomes Michael Amon and Karen Mahabir to Board of Directors

Karen Mahabir, The Associated Press; Michael Amon, The Wall Street Journal

The Overseas Press Club Foundation is pleased to welcome two distinguished journalism leaders, Michael Amon and Karen Mahabir, to its Board of Directors.

Both bring decades of newsroom leadership, a deep commitment to journalistic excellence and ethics, and a passion for mentoring and developing the next generation of journalists.

Michael Amon - Deputy World Coverage Chief, The Wall Street Journal

Michael Amon was named deputy world coverage chief in 2022. Based in New York, he coordinates coverage across all The Wall Street Journal's foreign bureaus and directly oversees reporters in Canada and Latin America.

Michael spent eight years as a foreign correspondent and bureau chief, with postings in London, Dubai and Tel Aviv. He was Middle East bureau chief when Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7 and oversaw the Journal's coverage of the ensuing war in Gaza.

Michael joined the Journal in 2011 as an editor for the Greater New York section and has worked in several roles. As law bureau chief, he led the Journal's coverage of the Jan. 6 storming of the Capitol and the resulting prosecutions of those involved. As international commodities editor in London, he oversaw the Journal's work on OPEC, investigations into child labor in African mines and the rise of Mohammed bin Salman in Saudi Arabia.

Michael is from South Dakota and graduated from New York University. He has also worked for Newsday and the Washington Post, where his work covering the American soldiers accused of abusing Iraqi prisoners in the Abu Ghraib scandal was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. As an editor, he has led coverage that won awards from the Society of Professional Journalists, the New York Press Club and the Silurians Press Club.

Karen Mahabir - Director of Standards and Talent Development, The Associated Press

Karen Mahabir is the AP’s director of standards and talent development, overseeing standards and ethics, as well as staff career development, for the global organization. 

Mahabir previously served as the AP’s first fact check and misinformation editor, examining claims from newsmakers, debunking viral online posts in all formats and editing accountability and explainer stories. In that role, she also helped create the company’s first program to help protect staff from online harassment. 

Prior to that, Mahabir was a producer with the Nerve Center, the AP’s 24-hour all-formats news coordination desk. She was also the breaking news supervisor for the Mid-Atlantic region, overseeing news in Washington, Maryland, Virginia and Delaware. She began her career with the AP in 2005 as an editor with the Latin America Desk, the agency’s first regional editing desk, based in Mexico City. 

Mahabir has also served as managing editor for news at HuffPost and covered local news and politics for newspapers in New Jersey and New York, during which she authored a column on immigration issues. 

In her current role, Mahabir guides AP staff on standards, news values and principles and creates guidance around emerging issues and news, such as artificial intelligence and war coverage. She also helped create and has run a program at AP to prepare staff for leadership roles, and promotes staff development.

Mahabir has served as a board member for the South Asian Journalists Association. She holds a master’s degree in international journalism from City University of London, and a bachelor’s degree in English literature from the University of Sussex.