A Tribute to Departing 'Wash Post' Editor Downie

By: Joe Strupp In some ways, Leonard Downie Jr.'s leadership at The Washington Post ? now set to end in September with his retirement at age 66 ? has been similar to that of a successful mob boss: firm, smart, and, most of all, low-key. Downie knew how to get top people, put them in the best jobs, demand performance, but maintain a modest profile. For years, some people still thought former executive editor Ben Bradlee was running the paper, due in part to Bradlee's outgoing personality, booming voice, and Hollywood imagery, a la "All the President's Men." But it's also a result of Downie choosing to keep his head down and forge ahead in the newsroom rather than looking around to see what others think or how he can promote himself.

That approach is one of the reasons he leaves the Post as an esteemed top editor, the crowning jewel coming just this past April when the paper won six Pulitzer Prizes, its most ever in one year ? which brought the Pulitzer count under Downie to 25, the most of any newspaper editor anywhere.

Yet, in a troubling trend, Downie is one of four editors at the nation's top papers to suddenly (and, in most cases, not exactly willingly) leave their jobs this year: his replacement, Marcus Brauchli, who left The Wall Street Journal; James O'Shea of the Los Angeles Times and, announced in mid-July, Ann Marie Lipinski of the Chicago Tribune. While each has been professional and responsive to E&P inquiries, none offered the open access that Downie has.

Since I came to E&P in 1999, I have written at least 160 stories about the Post that quoted Downie, including some of the most controversial and difficult issues facing the paper ? from its decision to run the first Abu Ghraib torture photos online (and hold back others) to the most recent 100-plus buyouts. Downie has never declined to take or return the call. "Hello Joe, Leonard is calling you back," his longtime assistant, Pat O'Shea, would say in her deep Irish lilt. "Hold one moment."

Although he would sometimes opt not to comment on a specific issue, usually with regard to his opinion of another paper, Downie more often than not would give his views or an extended explanation of the event or issue at hand. In addition, the veteran editor rarely ever rushed me off the phone or claimed a question was inappropriate.

"I believe in accountability ? accountability journalism has been a priority," Downie told me recently when asked about his open approach. "If I hold other people accountable, I should be, and our newspaper should be. We should be transparent and accountable for how we perform our journalism."

In 2005, when "Deep Throat" source W. Mark Felt revealed his long-held secret identity, Downie admitted to me that he had known this for months. That same year, when the Justice Department complained about a Post story on the FBI's use of national security letters under the Patriot Act, Downie was up-front with us and readers, posting the complaint and a point-by-point response, but with no angry or defensive comments.

Then there was the time I was set to interview Downie for a lengthy feature in late 2005. The morning I was to head down to Washington, the Post broke the sensitive news that Bob Woodward had kept secret for two years a confidential discussion he'd had with a White House source about Valerie Plame, the former CIA agent whose identity leak had sparked a criminal investigation. Downie took the time that morning, at about 7 a.m. as I was preparing to catch an Amtrak down to D.C., to call me at home and let me know about the story, and that it might not be the best time to visit.

Despite that, he was still willing to talk with me about the issue, which gave E&P a leg up on reporting what would end up being a major news story of the day.

"In that case, there were quite a lot of questions about that story," Downie recalls. "But I never found it difficult."

Later, when I did interview him for the profile, Downie was as open as any story subject, talking candidly about his personal life and the paper's hits and misses, but never self-promoting. He later said the piece was so transparent that his wife told him there were things in it she had never before known.

Ironically, Downie received perhaps the most inquiries about his own future in the months leading up to his eventual departure announcement, including repeated calls from me. With each rumor that he would soon quit or be fired, Downie said simply, "We are discussing the future of the newspaper."

But such openness has never translated to his being a D.C. nightlife hound."I am not a celebrity type," he admitted to me once. "My free time is precious to me."

Now, at long last, he will surely have more of it.