Downie: 'Wash Post' Will Cope With Buyouts and Cuts

By: Joe Strupp This week's shake-ups at The Washington Post, which included the appointment of a new publisher, the closing of a printing plant, and warnings of yet another round of buyouts, have not shaken Executive Editor Leonard Downie Jr.

Downie, who has run the Post newsroom for more than 16 years -- the longest tenure of any top 20 newspaper editor -- said the paper will simply restructure as needed under the buyouts, which have not been formally offered.

"We have been able to cope so far and I expect to be able to continue to be able to cover the news," Downie told E&P. "It is going to be very similar to what we have been doing for the past few years now. To restructure the newspaper, which we have constantly been doing."

At 65, with more than a decade and a half at the helm, Downie says he has no plans to retire, even with the pending cutbacks. "We have a new young publisher and an old executive editor," he said with a laugh. "There is a lot of work we will be doing."

While no specific buyout numbers have been put forth, or estimates on how many newsroom staffers would leave, Downie says the cutbacks will have to be absorbed. "We are continuing to reduce the cost of the newsroom and focus on our highest priorities," he noted, citing political coverage as key in the coming months. "We are doing a lot of restructuring still."

The buyouts will mark the third time since 2003 that such an offer has been made. The previous early retirement options in 2003 and 2006 reduced the paper's workforce by 120, the Post reported Friday.

The Post also plans to close its College Park, Md., printing plant and move all printing operations to its Springfield, Va., location. The move will affect some 250 unionized and non-union employees, the paper reported.

On a positive note, Downie welcomed the appointment of Post veteran Katharine Weymouth as the new publisher.

"She spoke about the importance of compelling journalism and The Washington Post continuing that both in print and online," Downie said Friday about Weymouth's first meeting with the newsroom. He says her past duties as a Post attorney and advertising executive position her well for the role. "The newsroom is pretty excited," he added. "She has worked with some people here on legal review of stories."

Downie also said that having both the print newspaper and the Web site report to Weymouth, a change from the situation under outgoing Publisher Bo Jones, was positive.

"That is probably a natural evolution as the two places grow naturally together," he said. "Closer cooperation between the two operations. That will make it easier to solve any issues that arise."

Under Jones, the Web site had reported directly to Donald Graham, former publisher and current CEO of The Washington Post Company. Weymouth, 41, also keeps a Graham family tradition alive in the publisher's chair, since she is the niece of Donald Graham "Bo Jones is the only non-member of the family to be publisher during my time here," Downie said.