Marcus Brauchli, who has been executive editor of the
Washington Post
for four years, will leave his post at the end of the year, the newspaper announced. He will be replaced by Martin Baron, editor of the
Boston Globe.
Brauchli will remain as a vice president of the Washington Post Company and will work closely with its chairman and chief executive, Donald E. Graham. Brauchli’s responsibilities will include evaluating new media opportunities, the
New York Times’
Media Decoder blog reported.
Under Brauchli’s editorship, the
Post
won four Pulitzer Prizes, but the paper’s advertising revenue has declined, circulation has dropped and online competition has increased, according to the
Times
report.
The
Times
report also referred to “internal tension” between Brauchli and
Post
publisher Katharine Weymouth, granddaughter of legendary publisher Katharine Graham. According to the
Times
The relationship between Ms. Weymouth and Mr. Brauchli chilled as she pushed him to make newsroom cuts he was uncomfortable with, according to people in the newsroom familiar with the discussions.
Ms. Weymouth told journalists at public events this past summer that she wanted to remove Mr. Brauchli, people familiar with the discussions said. But Mr. Graham, her uncle and the company’s chairman, stepped in and advised her to try to work things out, these people said….
The
Times
report said discussions between Weymouth and Brauchli recently “broke down again” when Weymouth rejected a newsroom budget from Brauchli, even though it incorporated cuts she requested.
Weymouth
told Poynter Media Wire,
an industry blog, that it was Brauchli’s decision to step down from the executive editor’s job. (Sources: Media Decoder,
New York Times,
Nov. 13, 2012; Poynter Media Wire, Nov. 13, 2012.)
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