People walk past the One Franklin Square Building, home of The Washington Post newspaper, in downtown Washington. File | Photo credit: AP
The Washington Post’s newly appointed editor, Robert Winnett, has decided not to take the job and remain in England, amid turmoil in the news organization’s leadership.
The Post’s CEO and publisher, Will Lewis, announced Winnett’s decision to withdraw in a letter to staff Friday morning. He remains deputy editor of the Telegraph in London.
Several published reports had raised questions about Winnett’s involvement in articles that paid a source and gathered information by deceptive means – practices that are more common in England but frowned upon by journalists in the United States.
As part of a reorganization that had backfired, Lewis had appointed Winnett, a former colleague, to take over the Post’s key editorial functions after the November election. The Post’s former editor-in-chief Sally Buzbee quit rather than accept a demotion.
The search for a new editor will begin immediately, Lewis told the staff.
