Washington Post newsroom reels from its editor’s sudden exit
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The stunning call added to the growing tension between the newsroom and chief executive officer Will Lewis, who has set about remaking the Post since he started in January.
PHOTO: NYTIMES
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NEW YORK - On June 3, minutes after Mr Will Lewis, chief executive officer of The Washington Post, informed employees that the newspaper’s executive editor, Ms Sally Buzbee, was being replaced, managers gathered on a conference call to hear from her one last time.
Ms Buzbee told them that a new organisational structure created by Mr Lewis – effectively splitting the Post newsroom and opinion section into three smaller divisions – did not work for her. She added that Mr Lewis was pushing for aggressive moves to turn around the Post, and asked editors to reserve judgement for now.
The stunning call added to the growing tension between the newsroom and Mr Lewis, who has set about remaking the Post since he started in January.
When Mr Lewis revealed his plan to separate the Post’s newsroom into segments, he said Ms Buzbee could run one of them, according to a person with knowledge of the interactions. Ms Buzbee chafed at the idea, according to two people familiar with her thinking.
The reorganisation would have been an effective demotion for Ms Buzbee, who had been in charge of all news content. The structure adds a division focused on service and social media journalism under the supervision of a new editor, which would have pulled a large portion of the Post’s editorial output out from under Ms Buzbee’s supervision.
On June 3, Mr Lewis told Ms Buzbee that he was appointing another person to her job, according to a person with knowledge of the talks.
Mr Lewis is temporarily replacing Ms Buzbee with Mr Matt Murray, former editor-in-chief of The Wall Street Journal. Mr Murray will run the Post’s newsroom as executive editor through the election, at which point he will transition to run the division focused on service and social media journalism.
A new editor, Mr Robert Winnett, will take over the company’s core coverage areas after the election. For the past decade, Mr Winnett has run news operations at The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph.
Mr David Shipley will continue to run the Post’s opinion section. All three will report directly to Mr Lewis.
Mr Murray was introduced to the Post’s newsroom on June 3, in a town hall meeting.
And he wasted no time familiarizing himself with the Post’s newsroom. On June 3, he began taking meetings in Ms Buzbee’s old office, hours after her sudden departure. Her nameplate has already been removed.
In a statement on June 3, The Washington Post Guild said it was “troubled” by Ms Buzbee’s sudden departure and the lack of diversity in the Post’s top ranks. NYTIMES
