Report: Post executive editor search down to Brauchli, Bennett
Washington Post publisher Katharine Weymouth has narrowed the field of prospective executive editors down to two candidates: former Wall Street Journal managing editor Marcus Brauchli and Post managing editor Phil Bennett, according to Radar’s Charles Kaiser.
Newsweek editor Jon Meacham took himself out of consideration weeks ago, according to Kaiser, who adds that Post employees say New York Times managing editor Jonathan Landman is no longer being considered for the job.
Post executive editor Len Downie, in a long suspected move, told his staff this week that he plans to step down in September.
A Landman hire could have been a boon for upward-looking Web editors everywhere, according to MarketWatch media columnist Jon Friedman. Hiring Landman could put an editor with an intricate understanding of the Web into one of the top positions in journalism, while also striking a blow at the rival Times, Friedman says.
Meanwhile, The New York Observer’s Felix Gillette reports that network sources have told him that NBC News SVP Mark Whitaker is the leading contender to replace Tim Russert as Washington bureau chief. Whitaker joined NBC News last May after spending most of his career at Newsweek.
