Washington Post names Buzbee top editor
After nearly a decade of revitalization under the ownership of the multibillionaire Jeff Bezos and the newsroom leadership of Martin Baron, the Washington Post announced on Tuesday that it had selected Sally Buzbee, the executive editor of the Associated Press, as its next top editor.
Buzbee, who is scheduled to start on June 1, will be the first woman to serve as the Post’s No. 1 editor since the paper started publishing in 1877.
“The Washington Post is an institution with a rich journalistic legacy that is on the cutting edge of digital media,” Buzbee said in a statement. “This puts the Post at the forefront of journalism’s future and presents an enormous opportunity for growth. It will be an honor to lead this incredible group of journalists.”
Buzbee, 55, has spent her career at the AP, starting in 1988 as a reporter in her home state of Kansas and becoming its executive editor and a senior vice president in 2017. Along the way, she led the news agency’s coverage of the 2012 and 2016 elections as its Washington bureau chief.
Frederick J. Ryan, the Post’s publisher, said that Buzbee distinguished herself in a field of impressive candidates for one of the most coveted jobs in journalism.
“In an extensive search that included many of the best journalists in America, Sally stood out as the right person to lead the Post going forward,” Ryan said in a statement. “She is widely admired for her absolute integrity, boundless energy, and dedication to the essential role journalism plays in safeguarding our democracy.”
Buzbee’s next assignment will be to build on the gains made at a publication that has been restored to health under Bezos, who bought the Post in 2013, and Baron, who led the paper to 10 Pulitzer Prizes and other journalism awards during his eight years at the helm.
The AP said in a statement that Buzbee would leave at the end of May and the organization would immediately begin a search for its next executive editor. The AP’s president and chief executive, Gary Pruitt, said in a statement that Buzbee had been “an exceptional leader.”