Washington Post's Managing Editor to Step Down

[Dover]

Source: WP

Philip Bennett, The Washington Post's managing editor, said today he is stepping down this week after four years as the paper's second-ranking news executive.

Bennett, 49, said he had "a feeling that I'd been running for a long time as fast as I could go," and that the appointment of Marcus Brauchli as the paper's executive editor last summer "made me think this was a good time to do something new."

Bennett was a candidate for the top job after Leonard Downie Jr. announced that he was leaving that post after 17 years. But Post Publisher Katharine Weymouth chose Brauchli, a former editor of the Wall Street Journal. Both Weymouth and Brauchli asked Bennett to stay on as managing editor, which he agreed to do for an interim period. Bennett said he will work on a project about the future of journalism with Post Co. chief executive Donald Graham for a period of months and is undecided about staying with the company beyond that.

..snip..

The move was not entirely unexpected. "Usually, a new executive editor selects his own managing editor," said Downie, now a Post Co. vice president, "and I think Phil wanted to give Marcus the opportunity to do that."

Brauchli said he hoped to name a new managing editor soon, as well as a successor to Jim Brady, who recently announced that he is stepping down as executive editor of washingtonpost.com. "Those are two large gaps in the structure," he said. "I'm obviously looking as quickly as possible at how we should replace both of those guys." ...cont'd


Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/05/AR2009010500863.html?hpid=moreheadlines

[mattvermont]

1. working for the CIA

will just not be as fun anymore

[EFerrari]

2. Good. He was terrible.

[DebbieCDC]

3. The Post has fallen so far it would be laughable

If it were not the paper of record for DC.

Cheerleaders for Bushco all the way, Leonard Downie and the whole damn crew.

[elleng]

8. I wouldn't ever call it 'paper of record.'

Been living here (DC) for 30 + years, and always had to read NYT; don't even do that any more.

We're all SKUNKED!

[Captain Hilts]

9. 'Sally Quinn'. 'David Broder'. Tools. nt

[sofa king]

4. Mission Accomplished.

[elleng]

5. A Top Editor Leaving Washington Post

Source: NYTimes

"The second-ranking editor at The Washington Post announced on Monday that he would step down, leaving the paper and its newly arrived top editor to fill vacancies in two of the highest newsroom positions, during a period of acute change at the paper.

Philip Bennett, the managing editor for the last four years, said that he would leave at the end of the week. Recently, Jim Brady said he would soon step down as executive editor of WashingtonPost.com, the newspaper’s Web site.

The departures create a challenge for Marcus W. Brauchli, who became executive editor of The Post in September after leaving the top editor’s job at The Wall Street Journal, and an opportunity for him to put his stamp on the upper ranks of The Post. This could also accelerate the merger of its print and online newsrooms, operations that have remained unusually separate by industry standards, leading to duplication and turf wars." >>>



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/06/business/media/06post.html?_r=1&hp

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

6. Journal---->Post.

Doesn't look good.

[elleng]

7. Post has been on its way down for some time.

WSJ has had excellent news coverage over the years, quite separate from editorial page. But I don't hold much hope for decent Nat'l and Int'l news coverage at WaPo.