The grumbling in the Post newsroom may officially begin. Robert J. McCartney, former managing editor of the International Herald-Tribune and currently Associate Managing Editor for Continuous News (the Post's way of saying "news website guru"), will be the paper's new AME for Metro.

The paper announcement was posted a couple of hours earlier today, but the official staff memo has yet to go out went out later--leaving some staffers to wonder whether the controversial nature of his appointment has the Post management hoping to bury the widespread email announcement as late in the day as possible when people are distracted by, you know, putting a newspaper out.

Last fall's appointment of managing editor of the white Phil Bennett over Gene Robinson, who is black, set off the latest round of perennial complaints about the lack of diversity at the Post's higher echelons.

Now the AME for Metro is the highest profile position to come open since then, and the Post leadership's choice of McCartney over Harriston, who's black, and Escobar, who's Hispanic from a list of finalists that, publicly at least, didn't contain any women is sure to reignite the complaints. (Hey, at least McCartney didn't go to Harvard and work on the Crimson.)

Let's see how the Post does filling McCartney's current slot as AME for continuous news.

3:30 P.M. UPDATE: The memo is out -- "As a newsroom manager for more than a decade, Bob has built a stellar record as a fair and accessible ally of reporters and editors." Full letter from Len Downie after the jump.

4 P.M. UPDATE: A Postie emails in to say that regardless of the symbolic controversy around McCartney, he's a good choice for the post. "Many people who
have worked with him describe him as one of the finest editors in the building, with a deft touch on copy and excellent management approach." He managed well at IHT, and was passed over for AME of Financial News in 1998 when Jill Dutt got the job.

June 9, 2005
To: Newsroom Staff
From: Len Downie and Phil Bennett

ANNOUNCEMENT

We are very pleased to announce that Bob McCartney will be the next Assistant Managing Editor/Metro.

Bob is a very experienced newsroom leader who has served as an editor on Metro, Financial, National and Foreign. During two years as the founding editor of the continuous news desk, Bob has been a pioneer in pushing our newsroom towards the promising frontiers of the Internet. His energy and ideas have made the continuous news operation a powerful agent of change across the newspaper.

We expect Bob to have a similar impact on Metro. With the largest staff at the paper, Metro is closest to our readers. Its coverage is essential to understanding the forces transforming our region--and to transforming The Post in ways that reward our longtime readers and attract new ones. We believe Bob has the experience and vision to help the Metro staff explore the area’s limitless potential for scoop-filled breaking news, authoritative beat reporting and storytelling that rivals any in daily journalism. Bob is also the ideal person to guide Metro into a deeper relationship with the web.

As a newsroom manager for more than a decade, Bob has built a stellar record as a fair and accessible ally of reporters and editors. His experience stretches across Post departments and across the Atlantic. He was managing editor of the International Herald Tribune for two years until The Post sold its stake in the paper in 2002. Before moving to Paris with the IHT, Bob spent almost three years as foreign editor. He was Maryland editor (1997-1999), deputy national editor
for defense and national security (1994-1997) and local business editor (1992-1994). As a reporter, he was New York financial correspondent, Central European bureau chief in Bonn and Mexico City bureau chief. He joined The Post as an assistant foreign editor in 1982 after working for the Associated Press in Rome.

Bob was born in Evanston, Ill. and grew up in Montgomery County. He graduated from Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School in 1971. After graduating from Amherst College in 1975, he started his journalism career as a reporter in Boston for The Wall Street Journal.

Bob will start his new duties on July 1, when Jo-Ann Armao finishes her nine successful years at the head of Metro. Jo-Ann will be a John S. Knight Fellow at Stanford University in the fall.