Incoming Washington Post editor Sally Buzbee eyes international expansion, reaching younger readers

By Sara Guaglione

Marty Baron’s shoes were high-profile ones to fill. After eight years as executive editor of The Washington Post, Baron’s retirement in February left one of the nation’s most coveted editor positions open — and an opportunity to name the first non-white man to the job.

Incoming executive editor Sally Buzbee — the first woman to have the publication’s top editorial job — has the experience to take the Post’s newsroom expansion and a deeper investment in international coverage to the next level.

Having most recently served as executive editor and svp of The Associated Press, Buzbee’s tenure managing numerous news bureaus around the world aligns with what The Post’s leadership has said will be a new chapter of growth for the D.C.-based brand.

Buzbee “has experience running a very complex organization,” AP president and CEO Gary Pruitt said. The AP’s global news operation produces content for over 15,000 news outlets, from around 250 locations in nearly 100 countries, including places like North Korea.

Buzbee had been at the AP since 1988 when she joined as a reporter in Kansas. Her time at the news organization has spanned both international and local experience: she served as the Washington bureau chief from 2010 through 2016 and for five years served as the AP’s Middle East regional editor based in Cairo. The AP will conduct an internal and external search for Buzbee’s successor. Pruitt hopes to name a new editor by late summer.

The Post has been investing in its own international expansion. Breaking news hubs in London and Seoul are getting staffed up, and the company’s international footprint will soon grow from 22 to 26 locations with new hubs in cities like Seoul, Sydney and Bogotá.

In an emailed statement, Buzbee, who starts in her new role on June 1 in Washington D.C., said expanding The Post’s global footprint “will certainly be a focus for me and how we can captivate a wider global readership.”

When Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos bought the Post in 2013, the newsroom had around 600 people. By the end of this year, the Post expects to have grown that figure to over 1,000 employees, the most in its history. About 88 million people visited the Post’s website in March, according to Comscore. That pales in comparison to the digital audience The Washington Post drew last March, when the pandemic hit. The site had 138.9 million visitors in March 2020, up 56% month-over-month and 60% year-over-year, according to Comscore, and consistently drew between 90-114 million visitors in the months following.

Still, that’s a smaller-staffed newsroom than one of the media companies The Post is most often pitted against, The New York Times, which touts 1,600 journalists in over 150 countries. “The most significant challenge facing [Buzbee] is trying to compete head to head with The New York Times with a substantially smaller newsroom,” said Dan Kennedy, a journalism professor at Northeastern University.

Buzbee will need to lead the charge in the historic battle between The Post and The Times for scoops, talent and …read more

Source:: Digiday