Washington Post continues bleeding talent as top editors announce exits

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The unprecedented exodus of talent from The Washington Post continued on Thursday with the announcement that two longtime editors will be stepping down.

Fox News Digital first reported in March that Cameron Barr, the senior managing editor of the Post, was looking to leave by the end of summer. In a memo sent to staff, the paper's executive editor Sally Buzbee confirmed his exit.

"It is with sadness that l announce that Cameron Barr is leaving The Washington Post after 19 years of exemplary service. Cameron and his wife have decided to move to England, her home country, where he will resume writing under his own name and pursue editing and consulting projects," Buzbee wrote in the memo obtained by Fox News Digital. 

She later wrote, "I told Cameron early last year that he had been enormously generous in his help to me, as a new executive editor, in a way that I felt was truly guided by his desire to further grow The Post’s impact. What Cameron really cares about is that The Post be excellent — mission driven, of the highest quality, ethical, committed to its values, superb in its journalism, huge in its ambition. In recognition of these qualities I appointed him senior managing editor in 2021."

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Washington Post senior managing editor Cameron Barr, alongside colleagues Matea Gold and Sally Buzbee, is the latest high-profile talent to announce his departure from the paper. ( Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

What's notable is that Barr, who joined the Post in 2004, was among the finalists being considered for Buzbee's job as well as Steven Ginsburg, a fellow managing editor at the time who began working for the paper back in 1994. Ultimately, both were passed over by Post publisher Fred Ryan, who chose Buzbee, an outsider who at the time was the executive editor of The Associated Press. Ginsburg left the Post in late 2022 to become the executive editor of The Athletic. 

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One current Post employee said "of course" Barr is a big loss for the newsroom, telling Fox News Digital, "He was a brilliant editor and great leader," and adding, "He’s had his hand in many important projects."

One former "Postie" previously said that the paper needs a "big picture leader," suggesting Barr could have served that role.

Another ex-colleague of Barr's said he wasn't necessarily a "beloved figure" in the newsroom, but he is certainly a "respected" one. And if he left the Post, there would be "absolutely nobody to run the journalism."

Also announced on Thursday was the Post's senior culture editor David Malitz was poached by The New York Times as its culture deputy editor. 

Malitz, who joined the Post back in 2004, was swept up in the Taylor Lorenz drama that erupted last year. Lorenz was under fire in June 2022 for an erroneous claim that was included in her report, prompting multiple corrections by the paper. Lorenz took to Twitter and blamed her editor for allegedly including the error without her knowledge.

Cameron Barr, a veteran editor for The Washington Post, was passed over for the top job in 2021 by publisher Fred Ryan, who chose an outsider instead. (Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

The incident led Buzbee to rescind a promotion to Malitz, then-deputy features editor, who was well-liked among colleagues. 

That decision, one insider previously told Fox News Digital, was a reflection of Buzbee "not knowing the room."

"She lost an entire department when she rescinded that job offer," the insider said. 

Following the announcement of his departure, one ex-Post staffer reacted, "My honest response was not of surprise," adding that he was a "beloved editor" at the paper. 

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Another former colleague called Malitz "a brilliant, wise and witty" editor who "got caught in the Taylor Lorenz shanfu last year and basically lost his job."

"He deserves to land well," they added. 

The current employee similarly said Malitz was "obviously" going to leave the Post since he was "unpromoted by Sally."

Multiple sources told Fox News Digital that deputy managing editor Sharif Durhams is also parting ways with the Post, one saying he is taking a job at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Neither Durhams nor AJC responded to Fox News Digital's requests for comment.

The Washington Post has lost several high-profile staffers including top editors and executives, many of them joining its direct competitor The New York Times. (ERIC BARADAT/AFP via Getty Images)

The Post has suffered an avalanche of high-profile exits over the past several months. In addition to Barr, Malitz, Ginsberg and possibly Durhams, the paper lost reporters David Fahrenthold, Eli Saslow, Dave Weigel, Steven Mufson, Karoun Demirjian, Paul Sonne, Robert Samuels and Max Bearak; media columnist Margaret Sullivan; veteran editors Tracy Grant, Barbara Vobejda, Mitch Rubin and Matt Vita; and book critic Carlos Lozada. 

Several C-suite executives have recently parted ways with the Post, including chief revenue officer Joy Robins, chief information officer Shailesh Prakash, chief product officer Kat Downs Mulder, communications chief Kristine Coratti Kelly, communications VP Shani George and audience development chief Beth Diaz.

Additionally, Post columnist Jonathan Capehart stepped down from the paper's editorial aboard in February over an apparent dispute he had regarding a published piece, leaving the board without any members of color (Capehart remains with the paper as a writer and host of a weekly podcast).

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One former Post staffer previously said it felt "chaotic" in the newsroom when it became known that "people were being headhunted by the Times." Fahrenthold, Saslow, Lozada, Demirjian, Sonne, Bearak and Robins were among those who have joined The New York Times, in addition to Malitz.

"People who would say no to the Times before are not saying no now," the ex-staffer told Fox News Digital.

One current staffer said the Post "feels lost at sea." 

For those who have spent several years and even decades at the Post, being a "Postie" was part of their identity, with one former employee telling Fox News Digital, "There isn’t anybody who has left the Post who 12, 15, 18 months ago could have foreseen that for themselves."

"I thought my career would end at The Washington Post… but there is life after The Washington Post," they said. 

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Sources have previously pointed fingers towards Ryan and Buzbee as the source of discontent in the Post newsroom.

A spokesperson for the Post previously told Fox News Digital, "The Washington Post continues to operate at its highest levels in serving our readers with world-class journalism and expanding our reach to local, national and international audiences."