Marissa Charles

Marissa Charles is an award-winning journalist with more than 20 years’ editorial and content strategy experience. Based in Los Angeles, she specializes in entertainment news, human interest, and lifestyle stories. For nearly four years she worked at PEOPLE, as News Director, then Managing Editor. Marissa played a pivotal role in creating the brand’s multimedia app, building the newsroom from scratch and contributing to its editorial vision. The result, the PEOPLE App — a video-first, TikTok-style platform targeting Gen Z — launched in 2025. 

A storyteller with an inquisitive nature, Marissa is a perceptive editorial strategist who is passionate about making compelling content accessible and, most importantly, discoverable. She believes you can inform and entertain, embracing tech and innovation, without sacrificing facts, journalism or ethics.

Marissa’s exclusive reporting has appeared in a variety of outlets including The Guardian, Ebony, Elle, Essence, Glamour UK, Harper's Bazaar Arabia and the Daily Mail. In 2011 she received the National Association of Press Agencies Feature of the Year Award. She is an Oxford University graduate with a B.A. in Modern History.