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A MESSAGE FROM INSTAGRAM

But first…

Next year, presumably on the earlier side of the first quarter, Washington Post publisher and C.E.O. Will Lewis intends to announce that he has appointed acting executive editor Matt Murray as the newsroom’s permanent chief, according to sources familiar with his plans. The news, which Will has been delaying for unspecified reasons, will bring an anticlimactic end to a long and tortured recruitment effort at a storied paper that—as you know, dear reader—has endured a rather miserable and ignominious few years of financial irresponsibility, soul-searching, and chaos. Murray, after all, was not Will’s first choice. In June, he had tried, quite inelegantly, to appoint his fellow Brit Rob Winnett to the post while transitioning the lackluster incumbent Sally Buzbee out of the role—only to be all but mutinied by veterans who chafed at the incursion of a Fleet Street sensibility at their august institution. Instead, Will enlisted Murray, his former Wall Street Journal top editor, to man the rudder until he could appoint someone else, at which point Murray was slated to become head of a “third newsroom” focused on new digital projects and innovations. It was an open secret that Murray, who had sort of been pottering around since his Journal exit, coveted the job and thought he had an outside shot. Lewis nevertheless cast about for alternatives, presumably a swashbuckling innovator prepared to become his wingman to truly reinvent the institution. But he and executive search firm Egon Zehnder engaged a now familiar rolodex of obvious (too obvious, really) candidates from across the Post’s competitive landscape—including New York Times masthead fixtures Carolyn Ryan and Cliff Levy, and former Post editors Anne Kornblut and Steven Ginsberg—while also giving consideration to internal candidates like Matea Gold and Murray, himself. As I’ve noted, it seemed that the folks he might have been able to recruit weren’t the ones he really wanted, and the ones he wanted weren’t really interested. The whole process felt rather depressing.

This may have been inevitable, given the heavy pall of negativity and ennui that had set in on the newsroom since the latter Fred Ryan era, and which Will only exacerbated with his irreverent disregard for traditional Postian decorum, beyond just the paper’s decision to pull their presidential endorsement. Of course, he was indisputably correct when he told the proud Post newsroom that no one was reading their stuff—well, it was a slight exaggeration—but the affront only made them more dubious about his ability to lead the paper. At the same time, he didn’t exactly articulate a vision or announce what the Post should be doing differently, nor how he intended to reverse its nearly $100 million annual revenue losses. Could you blame Carolyn Ryan for preferring to stick around at the Times and play the long Joe Kahn waiting game? In any event, by the time Egon Zehnder sent the invoice, it had probably become clear to Will that the best available option was the guy who had been in the building all along. (Not a great endorsement for Egon Zehnder, alas.) For starters, Matt had already demonstrated that he could do the job without alienating the staff. His deference to his boss would also allow Will to effectively serve as the true top editor, a role he held at multiple papers across the pond and seemed keen to replicate when he tried (and failed) to dissuade Buzbee from pursuing certain stories (a scenario Marty Baron would never have countenanced). Finally, Will also knows that Matt will be able to do the tough work of implementing layoffs, which will be a necessary part of the grand transformation coming down the line—or, frankly, immediately following his coronation. In recent days, Matt has made some internal moves signaling that he will remain atop the Post, including hiring his former Journal managing editor Karen Pensiero to serve in a newly created position of standards editor. If all goes according to Lewis’s hopes, Matt may one day find himself with oversight of a reinvigorated newsroom. In private conversations, Will has articulated a multifaceted vision for the Post’s future: the core news report, led by Matt; the opinion section, led by David Shipley; the “third newsroom” WP Ventures arm for new initiatives and verticals, which will be helmed by Krissah Thompson, reporting in to Matt; and a separate WP Intelligence policy-professional subscription service, led by Marty Kady. But getting there will take a considerable amount of time, since the negativity and ennui are unlikely to abate upon the news that Lewis’s grand plan for the paper is to promote the guy who is already running the place. Good luck, Matt. You’re gonna need it.