NEW YORK — The Washington Post said Sunday that editor-in-chief Sally Buzbee has stepped down after three years at the top of one of journalism’s most storied brands.
She will be replaced in this fall’s presidential election by Matt Murray, former editor-in-chief of The Wall Street Journal. Robert Winnett, currently deputy editor of the Telegraph Media Group, will then take over as editor.
No reason was given for Buzbee’s departure. She was not quoted in the press release announcing her departure and did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
The Post also announced Sunday that it is launching a new department in its newsroom focused on reaching audiences who want to pay and consume news differently.
Buzbee, a former editor-in-chief at The Associated Press, was selected as the best editor of the post in May 2021. She replaced a legendary predecessor, Martin Baron, after the Post exploded in popularity during the Trump administration.
Still, it has been a miserable few years financially for the news industry, including the Post. It has dwindled the number of subscribers, to the point where the new publisher, Will Lewis, told employees last month that the newspaper lost $77 million last year.
“To be honest, we are in a hole, and we have been in a hole for a while,” Lewis said, according to the Post.
Lewis was mentioned at the end of last year replacing Fred Ryan as postal publisher. He has worked at both The Wall Street Journal and The Telegraph in England, the places he went to find the new executives.
He has talked about creating a multi-tiered subscription for The Post, similar to Politico’s. In an email to employees late Sunday, Lewis said the new department will focus on more video stories, embrace artificial intelligence and flexible payment methods. The operation will start this fall, he said.
At an earlier meeting, “we emphasized the need to move away from the traditional one-size-fits-all approach in the news media industry and focus on creating news for a broader range of readers and customers.”
The Post won three Pulitzer Prizes last month, including one in national news coverage for a lively series on the impact of the AR-15 rifle.