'Washington Post' Editor Retires
In a move that has been foreshadowed for months, Washington Post managing editor Leonard Downie Jr. announced his resignation this afternoon. His 17 years atop the Post's masthead will come to a close on Sept. 8 -- meaning his successor will take over two months before the presidential election rather than, as previous reports have suggested, after the inauguration.
Just this morning, Katherine Weymouth, the Post's new publisher, was quoted saying she was "in no hurry to rush Len out of here." But her search for a successor has been widely reported, with candidates rumored to include Newsweek editor Jon Meacham, former Wall Street Journal editor Marcus Brauchli, New York Times assistant managing editor Jonathan Landman and Time's David Von Drehle, as well as internal candidate such as managing editor Phil Bennett and columnist David Ignatius. Weymouth says a successor will be named in a few days.
A source familiar with Brauchli's thinking says he is eager to return to editing a newspaper, two months after being pressured into resigning from the Journal, while another source, who has spoken to Meacham about the Post job, says the Newsweek editor, having recently presided over his own painful round of staff cuts, is less than enthusiastic about the prospect of a job where more such downsizing would almost certainly be required.
Incidentally, assuming the time stamps are to be relied on, it looks like Politico scooped the Post on its own announcement by 14 minutes.
- Anchors Away! Keith and Chris Out at MSNBC
- Sep 8 2008 8:40AM EDT
- Idle Chatter: 'Project Runway,' Seinfeld, Googlehoo
- Sep 8 2008 8:11AM EDT
- Oprah and Sarah: Anatomy of a Non-troversy
- Sep 7 2008 8:40PM EDT
- When Car Talk is Trash Talk: Is 'WSJ' a Ford?
- Sep 5 2008 2:57PM EDT
- Major Redesign of the 'Times'; Fewer Sections
- Sep 5 2008 2:44PM EDT
- Does McCain Buy His Own Anti-Media Rhetoric?
- Sep 5 2008 12:23PM EDT
- Late Breaks: Only Obama Campaigns on 'Oprah'
- Sep 5 2008 10:52AM EDT
- Does David Brooks Know About Speechwriters?
- Sep 5 2008 10:44AM EDT
- Hachette's Kliger Turns Down Chairman Role
- Sep 5 2008 9:51AM EDT
- Idle Chatter: Leave Our Pit Bull Alone
- Sep 5 2008 9:00AM EDT
- 'New York Sun' Offers More Than It Can Deliver
- Sep 4 2008 5:39PM EDT
- Late Breaks: Defining Down the Elite Media
- Sep 4 2008 5:20PM EDT
- Whoops! 'WSJ' Magazine in Debut Snafu
- Sep 4 2008 2:53PM EDT
- Karl Rove, Pundit, Pads Palin's Resume
- Sep 4 2008 1:49PM EDT
- At 'NY Times,' the Futurist Is Now...Leaving
- Sep 4 2008 10:53AM EDT
Categories
Links
- Contact Me
- Romenesko

- Gawker

- Ad Age

- WWD's Memo Pad

- Keith Kelly

- NYT Media

- Jon Fine

- TVNewser

- Magazine Death Pool

- HuffPo Media

- Radar

- Galleycat

- Book Standard

- News Hounds

- Newsbusters

- Jezebel

- CBS Public Eye

- Editor & Publisher

- Hollywood Wiretap

- The Media Pundit

- FAIR

- I Want Media

- Viral Video

- Nikki Finke

- MediaFile

- Silicon Alley Insider

- Paid Content

- Valleywag

- Channel '08 -- Campaign Ads

- Cover Awards

- Talking Biz News

- SI.com - Richard Deitsch

- Gapper Blog - Media










