Sally Buzbee, executive editor of The Washington Post, steps down in 'abrupt shake-up'

The Washington Post's executive editor stepped down on Sunday after internal disagreements about the outlet's future, including the decision to separate its newsroom into segments, according to multiple reports.

The departure of Sally Buzbee, who's been the executive editor of the Post since 2021, was announced in an email by CEO William Lewis in what the newspaper called an "abrupt shake-up at the top."

In addition to Buzbee's exit, Lewis said Matt Murray, the former editor-in-chief of the Wall Street Journal, will be the new executive editor for the Post temporarily, the newspaper reported. Following the presidential election in November, Robert Winnett, the former deputy editor of Telegraph Media Group, will take over in a newly created editor role, the outlet said. Both men have worked with Lewis previously.

Lewis' announcement "surprised many in the newsroom," according to the Post. Less than two weeks ago, Buzbee spoke during a companywide meeting and told staff about a plan to create new subscription tiers to enhance revenue, the outlet reported.

In a statement emailed Monday to USA TODAY, the Washington Post Guild addressed Buzbee's resignation.

"We’re troubled by the sudden departure of our executive editor Sally Buzbee and the suggestion from our Publisher and CEO Will Lewis that the financial issues plaguing our company stem from the work of us as journalists instead of mismanagement from our leadership," the statement said. "We are also concerned about the lack of diversity at the top levels of the organization, especially as the Post seeks to reach new audiences while continuing to cover the most pressing issues in the nation and the world."

USA TODAY contacted Buzbee but has not received a response.

William Lewis a 'huge fan' of Sally Buzbee when hired as CEO

When the Post hired Lewis to be its next publisher in late 2023, he told the newsroom how much of a "huge fan" he was of Buzbee, according to the outlet. The two had a prior history due to Lewis being on the Associated Press's board when Buzbee was the executive editor of the AP, the Post reported.

"(Lewis) was '100 percent' committed to (Buzbee) remaining in the job," according to the Post.

Buzbee was hired in May 2021 by Fred Ryan, the former CEO and publisher of the Post, before he stepped down about a year ago due to "a rare round of layoffs, public clashes with the newsroom’s union and sharp declines in revenue and subscriptions," the outlet said.

The Washington Post launching new 'service and social media journalism' division

The Post lost $77 million over the past year, something Lewis acknowledged as the newspaper offered buyouts to a "couple hundred staffers" at the end of 2023 to save costs, according to the Washington, D.C.-based outlet.

The plans for the newspaper going forward include the launch of "a new division of the newsroom" in 2024 that will focus on "service and social media journalism," according to the Post, which cites the Sunday night email Lewis sent to staff. The goal of the new division would be to attract audiences who "want to consume and pay for news differently from traditional offerings," the outlet said.

The Post would "give the millions of Americans — who feel traditional news is not for them but still want to be kept informed — compelling, exciting and accurate news where they are and in the style that they want," the newspaper said, citing Lewis' email.

The Post recently won three Pulitzer Prizes in 2024 for National Reporting, Editorial Writing and Commentary.

Sally Buzbee was not a proponent of segmenting The Washington Post's newsroom

Dividing the Post into divisions did not work for Buzbee, the New York Times reported. Splitting up the Post newsroom and opinion section into three smaller divisions, including the social media-oriented division, was one of Lewis' "aggressive moves" that Buzbee was not keen on, the outlet said.

"I would have preferred to stay to help us get through this period, but it just got to the point where it wasn’t possible,” Buzbee said, the New York Times reported, citing a person familiar with the matter.

When Lewis approached Buzbee about separating the Post's newsroom into segments, the executive "chafed" at the plan, which led to the two reaching an impasse, the New York Times reported, per individuals closely familiar with the situation. Lewis offered Buzbee the job of running two newsroom segments, but she resigned instead, the New York-based outlet said, citing an individual with knowledge of the interactions.

Lewis' offer would have been a demotion for Buzbee because it would've "taken a large portion of the Post's editorial output out from under her supervision," according to the New York Times.