Rahoul Ghose/PBS 2024

Raney Aronson-Rath is the editor-in-chief and executive producer of FRONTLINE, PBS’ flagship investigative journalism documentary series produced at GBH in Boston. She’s a leading voice on the future of journalism and has cemented FRONTLINE’s reputation as a trustworthy source.

Aronson-Rath oversees FRONTLINE’s acclaimed reporting, and directs the series’ editorial vision — executive producing more than 20 in-depth documentaries each year on critical issues facing the country and the world. Under her leadership, FRONTLINE has investigated the impact of Russia’s war on Ukraine, the deep historical and regional context behind the Israel-Hamas war, threats to democracy in the U.S. and abroad and the world’s response to a global coronavirus pandemic.

She has expanded FRONTLINE’s reporting capacity, leading an initiative to bolster local journalism in news deserts, and guided FRONTLINE’s evolution from a longstanding documentary series to a multi-platform journalism organization committed to uncovering vital stories and telling them in new ways. One such example is the award-winning project Un(re)solved, an examination of a federal effort to grapple with America’s legacy of racist killings.

FRONTLINE has won every major award in broadcast journalism under Aronson-Rath’s leadership, including Peabody Awards, Emmy Awards, and, in 2019, the first Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Gold Baton to be awarded in a decade. FRONTLINE’s reporting has been recognized with myriad journalism honors including Overseas Press Club Awards, Scripps Howard Awards, the Nieman Foundation’s Bingham Prize for Investigative Journalism and the Peabody Institutional Award.

Aronson-Rath has led an ongoing charge for transparency in journalism — including through the FRONTLINE Transparency Project, an effort to open up the source material behind FRONTLINE’s reporting. She served as the sole public media representative on the Knight Commission on Trust, Media, and Democracy.

In addition to increasing FRONTLINE’s digital footprint, Aronson-Rath has spearheaded FRONTLINE’s expansion into the theatrical documentary space. During her tenure, the series won an Academy Award® for 20 Days in Mariupol (2024), and received Academy Award® nominations for Abacus: Small Enough to Jail (2018), For Sama (2020). In 2021, Aronson-Rath became a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences.

Aronson-Rath launched FRONTLINE’s original narrative podcast, The FRONTLINE Dispatch, and was selected to serve as the board chair for the Pulitzer Prizes’ first-ever audio reporting category. The 2024 recipient of New York Women in Film & Television’s Enid Roth Award for Excellence in Journalism, 2022 recipient of the New England First Amendment Coalition’s Stephen Hamblett Award and the 2019 Hearst Digital Media Lecturer at Columbia Journalism School, Aronson-Rath has spoken on journalism and filmmaking at the Skoll World Forum, the TV Next Summit, the Power of Narrative Journalism Conference, and at universities including Stanford, UC Berkeley, NYU and MIT. She is a member of the board of visitors for Columbia University’s journalism school, and serves on the advisory board of Columbia Global Reports.

Aronson-Rath joined FRONTLINE in 2007 as a senior producer. She was named deputy executive producer by David Fanning, the series’ founder, in 2012, and became executive producer in 2015. Before managing FRONTLINE, Aronson-Rath produced a number of notable FRONTLINE documentaries including News War, a four-part investigation into the future of news; The Last Abortion Clinic, an examination of how anti-abortion advocates waged a successful campaign to limit abortion in many places in the country; The Jesus Factor, an examination of then-President George W. Bush’s personal religious journey and the political influence of America’s evangelical Christians; Law & Disorder, an investigation into questionable police shootings in the wake of Hurricane Katrina; and Post Mortem, which uncovered flaws in America’s death investigation system and revealed that autopsies were being carried out by doctors who lacked certification and training.

Prior to FRONTLINE, Aronson-Rath worked at ABC News and The Wall Street Journal. She earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin and her master’s from Columbia Journalism School.

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