#Washington Post taps Sally Buzbee as first female executive editor

The Washington Post named Sally Buzbee of the Associated Press to be its new executive editor — the first woman to hold the job in the paper’s 144-year history.

Buzbee succeeds Marty Baron, who stepped down in February from the helm of the paper now owned by Amazon’s Jeff Bezos.

Cameron Barr had been the acting executive editor since Baron retired and had been seen as a potential replacement, as was the paper’s national editor Steven Ginsberg. Outside names that surfaced in the hunt included New York Times assistant managing editor Marc Lacey and Carolyn Ryan, a deputy managing editor of the Times and author of its recent internal review on diversity problems at the paper. National Geographic top editor Susan Goldberg was also reportedly in the mix.

“Sally Buzbee has an exceptional record of achievement and a tremendous wealth of experience in leading a global news organization,” said Fred Ryan, publisher and CEO of the Washington Post. “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. She is widely admired for her absolute integrity, boundless energy, and dedication to the essential role journalism plays in safeguarding our democracy.”

Buzbee has been executive editor and senior vice president of the Associated Press since early 2017, overseeing the AP’s global news operation, which produces content for over 15,000 news outlets from nearly 250 locations worldwide. In 2019, the AP won the Pulitzer Prize for international reporting for its investigation detailing atrocities in the war in Yemen.

She started with the global wire service in Kansas in 1988, and acquired a deep knowledge of the Beltway serving as AP Washington bureau chief from 2010 to 2016. She also has long foreign experience after spending five years in Cairo, beginning in 2004, as the AP Middle East regional editor.

“The Washington Post is an institution with a rich journalistic legacy that is on the cutting edge of digital media,” said Buzbee 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’s appointment marks the latest high-profile top media jobs to be filled by a woman or person of color as the media world grapples with stinging criticism of its lack of newsroom diversity, especially in the upper ranks. The Los Angeles Times tapped Kevin Merida as its executive editor on May 3, making him the second black editor and third person of color to lead the newsroom in its 140-year history. Merida succeeds Norm Pearlstine.

Reuters last month named Alessandra Galloni to be its new editor-in-chief, succeeding Steve Adler, making her the first woman to lead the news agency in its 170-year history.

TV news has also embraced the diversity push. MSNBC in December named its news VP Rashida Jones to succeed Phil Griffin when he stepped down as president in January. Last month, CBS News named Neeraj Khemlani and Wendy McMahon to be co-presidents, succeeding Susan Zirinsky. And last month, ABC News raided CBS to name Kimberly Goodwin, a black woman, as president, succeeding James Goldston.

Conde Nast, which committed to more diversity on its upscale glossies last year, just tapped Versha Sharma as its new editor of Teen Vogue — its second diversity hire for the same job in recent months. In March, Conde hired Axios reporter Alexi McCammond for the job, but she resigned amid criticisms of past anti-Asian tweets.