The Post's Top Editor to Step Down

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Post's Downie to Step Down

In a announcement made in The Washington Post newsroom, Executive Editor Leonard Downie Jr. said he will step down as of Sept. 8, ending 17-year tenure.

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The decisions he has made over the years reflect a dizzying range of journalistic challenges. In 1992 he delayed until after the election a report on then-Sen. Bob Packwood (R-Ore.) making unwanted sexual advances toward 10 female employees and lobbyists, drawing criticism despite his insistence that the story had not been ready earlier. In 1994 he delayed publication of a story on Paula Jones's sexual allegations against President Bill Clinton until the day before she filed a civil suit against Clinton. In 1996 he decided against reporting that Republican presidential nominee Bob Dole had had an affair 28 years earlier, news that later leaked to the National Enquirer.

Downie has also had to deal with plagiarism, sexual harassment and racial tensions in the newsroom.

In 1995 he helped decide that The Post would join the New York Times in publishing, at the request of federal officials, a 35,000-word manifesto by the serial killer known as the Unabomber.

More recently, Downie decided in 2004 to publish the F-word after Vice President Cheney used it in a dust-up with Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.). In 2005 he publicly chided Woodward for not disclosing to him that an administration official had told the reporter the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame 2 1/2 years earlier.

Downie's values as an editor were forged in his days as a muckraking reporter. "Investigative reporting is tedious and scary," he said. "The people you're investigating don't like you. Sources are scared to death to talk to you. And many times your colleagues don't like you because you're investigating someone on their beat."

Perhaps the paper's greatest shortcoming during Downie's tenure came during the run-up to the Iraq war. He later took responsibility for not giving more front-page attention to critics of Bush's case for the war.

"One of my failings is that while I delegate a lot, I also stick my finger in everything we do," Downie said. While The Post pursued some skeptical reporting about the rationale for invading Iraq, "I didn't pounce on it and bring it to the fore as a high priority. That antenna I normally had just didn't function well enough."

Downie's retirement has been the subject of speculation for months as Weymouth, who became publisher in February, has met with numerous editors about the paper's future. Those considered to be the strongest contenders for his job are Post Managing Editor Philip Bennett, former Wall Street Journal managing editor Marcus Brauchli and Jonathan Landman, a New York Times deputy managing editor.

Downie said he also plans to write books -- his novel, "The Rules of the Game," is due out in January -- and become an advocate for improving journalism.