WaPo Executive Editor Abruptly Exits

The executive editor of the Washington Post, Sally Buzbee, the first woman to lead the newspaper's newsroom, has stepped down from her role, publisher and CEO William Lewis of the publication said on Sunday.

Matt Murray, ex Editor in Chief of the Wall Street Journal, will replace her  until the November 2024 presidential election, and will then be followed by Robert  Winnett of the Telegraph Media Group, who will become the newspaper's editor, the Washington Post said in a post on its website.

Sally Buzbee

The abrupt shake-up at the top of The Post — which Lewis announced alongside ambitious plans for a new division of the newsroom — is the biggest move by far from the British-born journalist since he took over as CEO in January.

Buzbee, previously the executive editor of the Associated Press, was the first woman to lead the nearly 150-year-old newspaper. She could not be immediately reached for comment.

The announcement — in the final months of a presidential election campaign, traditionally a marquee news event for The Post — surprised many in the newsroom, which has also been consumed with coverage of the unprecedented guilty verdict in Donald Trump’s New York hush money criminal trial and the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza.

Buzbee appeared onstage at a companywide meeting less than two weeks ago where Lewis told staff that about a plan to create new tiers of subscription offerings, in a bid to enhance revenue.

She had been hired in May 2021 by The Post’s then-publisher and CEO Fred Ryan, who stepped down almost a year ago after a rare round of layoffs, public clashes with the newsroom’s union and sharp declines in revenue and subscriptions.