[2] He is the former senior editor of The Washington Post, former president of the American Society of News Editors[3] and the current president of Inter American Press Association (IAPA).
[4] Coleman joined The Washington Post in 1976 and was promoted to the deputy managing editor position in 1996.
[5] He had played a principal role in the newspaper's strategy and development of zoned editions and improved its coverage of Latinos, including news in Spanish.
[7] He also has served as a member of the nominating committee for the Pulitzer Prizes in Journalism, a judge for the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award and National Association of Black Journalists and Asian American Journalists Association awards, and the chairman of the Seldon Ring Award for Investigative Reporting judging committee.
He was a Southern Education Foundation Fellow in 1971 and a fellow in the Michele Clark Summer Program for Minority Journalists at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 1974.