David Malitz named senior culture editor at The Washington Post

For 18 years, David has been a mainstay of Features coverage, helping many of our best writers elevate their work, most recently serving as interim Executive Features Editor. As a deputy in the department, he helped lead the transformation of the team, setting it on its current course by taking six print-oriented teams and driving dynamic digital journalism focused on the arts, entertainment, food, lifestyle and culture.

He started at washingtonpost.com in Arlington in 2004 as a part-time producer populating the Going Out Guide (then City Guide) database with local events like county fairs and pumpkin patches. He was one of the Going Out Gurus, the local entertainment experts who helped D.C. area residents navigate nightlife and free time. David also wrote about music for Weekend and Style, reviewing hundreds of concerts, none more memorable than Courtney Love’s disastrous night at 9:30 Club.

David became pop culture editor in 2012, working with critics Ann Hornaday, Chris Richards and Hank Stuever in addition to running the Sunday Style section. Since 2014 has been Deputy Features Editor, working with Liz Seymour and Mitch Rubin to build a department that delivers every type of journalism The Post is known for, from enterprise to breaking news to service to columns.

David is loved by writers who have worked with him and will continue to work closely with reporters throughout Style, as well as a diverse array of talented freelance journalists. One writer credited him with a broad sense of culture, calling him the kind of editor who “can have a fluid conversation about an obscure Eddie Murphy routine, an important Bob Dylan song or the latest exhibition at Glenstone.”

In the last decade, David has been the editor behind some of the most memorable work in Style — including an oral history of “Walk this Way,” 10 years of Taylor and Kanye, the Beat Generation and What Happened to Eric Clapton? He has also shaped the work of Style’s political writers, pop culture reporters, critics and everything in between. He was also the driving force behind the expansion of media coverage at The Post.

A true local, David grew up in Montgomery County, went to the University of Maryland and lives in Northern Virginia. He is a diehard fan of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Washington Wizards and dares you to find a more tortuous pair of teams to root for.

Please join me in congratulating David on his new role, which begins July 5.