Contact: Alice Ducq, 703.469.2763 (alice.ducq@wpni.com)

(For Immediate Release)

Newsweek Editor Mark Whitaker Joins Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive

Strategic Appointment Reinforces WPNI’s Industry Leadership in Media Innovation

(Arlington, VA – September 5, 2006) — Mark Whitaker, the award-winning editor of Newsweek since 1998, will join the digital division of The Washington Post Company, Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive (WPNI), in a new position as Vice President and Editor-in-Chief of New Ventures, Washington Post Chairman and CEO Donald Graham and WPNI CEO and Publisher Caroline H. Little announced today.

In his new role, Whitaker will be responsible for developing and supervising new Internet sites and other wireless and multimedia ventures, drawing on editorial assets from across the Washington Post Company, as well as exploring partnerships and acquisitions.  WPNI currently oversees washingtonpost.com, Newsweek.com and Slate, all of which have won numerous industry awards. These properties, as well as WPNI’s BudgetTravelOnline.com, also have experienced rapid user and revenue growth.

“Increasing traffic and revenue on the Internet is the biggest challenge facing media companies, including ours. Mark is an extraordinary journalist, and having him join Caroline’s amazing team is about as big a step forward as we could take,” Graham said.

“I couldn’t be more excited to work with Caroline and all the talented folks at WPNI and our existing Web operations, and to explore how we can create new sites and ventures, and expand our digital audience well beyond traditional news,” Whitaker said.

A 25-year Newsweek veteran who rose through the ranks as a reporter, writer, business editor and managing editor, Whitaker has been the magazine's longest-serving editor in 30 years. Under his leadership, the newsweekly has won a record number of industry awards, among them four National Magazine Awards, including two for General Excellence for its coverage of September 11 and the Iraq War. In addition to overseeing its coverage of politics, international relations and business, Whitaker has introduced numerous new editorial franchises to strengthen and brand the magazine's coverage of technology, health and personal service. Under his leadership, Newsweek.com has attracted more traffic than any other newsmagazine site and won numerous online awards, including and Editor & Publisher's (EPpy) award for best newsmagazine Web site, a MIN “Best of the Web Award” and a nomination for the National Magazine Award for General Excellence in 2006. In 2005 MediaWeek named Whitaker and Newsweek Worldwide Publisher Greg Osberg the magazine industry's “Executive Team of the Year.”

From 2004 to 2006, Whitaker served as the president of the American Society of Magazine Editors, and he also sits on the board of the Committee to Protect Journalists. A summa cum laude graduate of Harvard College, he studied international relations at Oxford University as a Marshall Scholar and holds an honorary doctorate from Wheaton College. The first black editor of a national newsweekly, he received a 2003 Trumpet Award for outstanding African-Americans.

While working closely with WPNI headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, Whitaker will be based in New York, where he will retain the title of Corporate Editor at Newsweek. His appointment takes effect October 2.

“I am so excited to have someone of Mark's proven leadership ability, editorial creativity and widespread media contacts heading up WPNI's effort to expand its online empire,” Little said.

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Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive is the online publishing subsidiary of The Washington Post Company (NYSE:WPO). Its mission is to develop the company's editorial products and businesses on the Internet and across all electronic content delivery platforms. WPNI's flagship products include washingtonpost.com, Slate, Newsweek.com and BudgetTravelOnline.com. The company is headquartered in Arlington, VA.