Wischnowski to resign as The Philadelphia Inquirer’s top editor
Stan Wischnowski, the top editor of the Philadelphia Inquirer, has announced his resignation, days after discontent among the newspaper’s staff erupted over a headline on a column about the impact of the civil unrest following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Mr. Wischnowski, 58, led the paper over two turbulent periods in recent years, driving it, its sister paper, the Daily News, and its website, Inquirer.com, to reshape themselves as the digital age transformed the news business. He was also key in the creation of Spotlight PA, a new multi-reporter team to provide news outlets across Pennsylvania with investigative coverage of state government. He also was in charge in 2012 when the Inquirer won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for an in-depth investigation into violence within Philadelphia schools.
In a statement Saturday, Publisher Lisa Hughes said Mr. Wischnowski “has decided to step down as senior vice president and executive editor.” She thanked him for his 20 years working at the paper and serving as executive editor.
He will formally leave the paper on June 12. No successor was named, but Ms. Hughes wrote to the staff, “We will use this moment to evaluate the organizational structure and processes of the newsroom, assess what we need, and look both internally and externally for a seasoned leader who embodies our values, embraces our shared strategy, and understands the diversity of the communities we serve.
“While we conduct this evaluation and search, I am confident in [editor] Gabe Escobar and [managing editor] Patrick Kerkstra’s ability to continue to lead our newsroom in their current roles.”
It was the placement of an insensitive headline over
Inga Saffron’s column in the
Tuesday newspaper that seemed to set the stage for
Mr.
Wischnowski’s departure. He joined the two other top editors in signing an apology to readers and staff, characterizing the headline, “Buildings Matter, Too” as “deeply offensive” and apologizing for it. The column had explored the destruction of buildings amid the looting that accompanied some of the nationwide protest over police violence.
Even before the headline was published, Mr. Wischnowski and other editors had scheduled a staff -wide Zoom meeting to discuss race at the Inquirer and the pressures in particular faced by journalists of color.
Mr. Wischnowski, low-key and measured, as is his personality, told staffers on Wednesday the paper had made strides in diversifying its 213-member newsroom, boosting minority representation to 27% of the editorial workforce, about a doubling in four years. He promised more such hires.
The session turned intense and emotional. Some journalists could be seen in tears in their Zoom frames. Critics, black and white, denounced the pace of change at the paper, sharply criticizing both coverage and the racial and gender mix of the staff. Several journalists pointed out the newspaper could muster only one male African American reporter to cover the protests and police response convulsing a city that is majority nonwhite.
Hours after the wrenching Zoom session, about 50 journalists of color signed an open letter calling for faster changes at the paper. The next day, most of the minority staff took the day off from work in protest.
“It’s no coincidence that communities hurt by systemic racism only see journalists in their neighborhoods when people are shot or buildings burn down,” the letter read in part. It added: “We’re tired of shouldering the burden of dragging this 200-year-old institution kicking and screaming into a more equitable age.”
Mr. Wischnowski, a graduate of Western Illinois University, began his professional life at the Kankakee (Ill.) Daily Journal in 1982 as a sports stringer. From there he worked at newspapers in Detroit and Lansing, Mich., and Rochester, N.Y., before joining the Inquirer in 2000.