Washington Post executive editor Sally Buzbee has stepped down in a sign that things are not going well for the media institution. Despite the fact that it’s an election year and there is no shortage of news, the paper’s readership is down.
It’s been known for months now that the Post has a cash flow problem, but this is the first high-level management change to be made public.
Axios reported:
Sally Buzbee steps down as Washington Post executive editorWashington Post executive editor Sally Buzbee has stepped down from her position, the news outlet announced Sunday.Why it matters The first woman to lead the newsroom in the Post’s 144-year history is leaving as the news outlet prepares for a shakeup of newsroom operations.Catch up quick: Buzbee came to the Post as executive editor in 2021, replacing longtime newsroom leader Marty Barron.
- The Post won six Pulitzers during Buzbee’s three years as executive editor, but her tenure was marred by reports of tension between her and the Post’s former chief executive and publisher, Fred Ryan.
- Ryan stepped down last year, and was replaced by former News Corp. executive Will Lewis.
Driving the news: Effective immediately, Buzbee will be replaced by Matt Murray, former editor in chief of The Wall Street Journal.
According to FOX News, the paper’s publisher and CEO, Matt Lewis, recently had a meeting with staffers that involved some tough love:
WaPo boss sounds alarm over dwindling audience in heated staff meeting: ‘People are not reading your stuff’Washington Post publisher and CEO William Lewis had a blunt message for his staff during a tense meeting following the sudden ouster of executive editor Sally Buzbee, according to the paper’s own reporting.”We are going to turn this thing around, but let’s not sugarcoat it. It needs turning around,” Lewis told the paper. “We are losing large amounts of money. Your audience has halved in recent years. People are not reading your stuff. Right. I can’t sugarcoat it anymore.”Lewis informed his staff Sunday night that Buzbee, who joined the Post in 2021, was parting ways with the paper “effective immediately.” He announced her temporary replacement would be former Wall Street Journal editor-in-chief Matt Murray, who is expected to hold the position through the 2024 election cycle, and that the paper was being restructured into “three newsrooms,” in hopes of turning things around for the beleaguered “Democracy Dies in Darkness” publication.The Washington Post reported Monday that Buzbee was uncomfortable with an offer to run a different division of the paper. She also reportedly had urged Lewis to hold off on implementing such changes until after the election, which Lewis refused.
Twitter/X is buzzing over the news.
Trump’s political future is in better shape than that of the Washington Post.
If that’s not irony, I don’t know what is.
Featured image via YouTube.
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