Newseum President and COO EXITING

The Washington Post reports Scott Williams is leaving the struggling Newseum after six years — including the past six months as the journalism museum’s president — to lead the Discovery Park of America in Union City, Tenn.

Williams is the latest of a string of senior executives to depart the struggling institution that last August began exploring the sale of its Pennsylvania Avenue building or closing entirely. The review was launched by the Freedom Forum, the museum’s primary benefactor, which has spent more than $500 million on the museum in the past 20 years. President and chief executive Jeffrey Herbst stepped down as the review was announced, ending his two-year tenure.

Scott Williams

The 55-year-old Williams, a Tennessee native who has been the Newseum’s chief operating officer since 2012 and president and COO since March, said his decision was not related to those struggles.

Newseum Vice President of Exhibits Carrie Christoffersen will become senior vice president and Newseum executive director when Williams leaves Oct. 19. Christoffersen has worked at the Newseum for two decades.

Williams’s resignation comes two weeks after the Newseum was widely criticized for selling “You are very fake news” T-shirts and other merchandise in its gift shop and online that many journalists perceived as supporting ongoing attacks on the media.

A spokeswoman initially defended the merchandise, saying the museum is nonpartisan and that “we are champions not only of a free press but also of free speech.” Days later, the museum issued an apology and removed the items.