From an internal Washington Post announcement, obtained by FishbowlDC:

We are pleased to announce that Monica Norton will be our new Technology Editor. Her experience directing education coverage (students are early adopters of technology), as well as her strong eye for interesting stories, makes her a terrific fit for this job. Monica is well liked by her reporters and her colleagues and we are eager to have her join our section.

Monica was a reporter at The Evening Sun and The Baltimore Sun and was an editor at Gannett Suburban Newspapers in White Plains and Newsday. She joined The Post in 2005 and is currently education editor on the Maryland desk, where she oversees schools coverage and edits the Monday Education Page.

Monica is a native of Baltimore who will never root for the Redskins. (It's a Baltimore thing). After reading James Baldwin's If Beale Street Could Talk in the 7th grade, she decided she wanted to live in Paris as a writer, which she may still do someday. Monica will move to the Financial staff on May 27.

FishbowlDC has learned that the following Washington Post employees are taking the paper's buyout package:

Kathy Legg
Don Podesta (AME/Copy Desk)
Sue Anne Pressley
Joe Elbert (former AME/Photo)
JoEllen Murphy (Art Director, HOME)

>UPDATE: One tipster says, "And when Don Podesta leaves, so does his job (head of copy editors). The section heads will regain control over their corresponding copy desks, just like it was before Podesta."

The WaPo's Linton Weeks and Mike Keegan are taking the buyout, FishbowlDC has learned.

Below is a staff note obtained by FishbowlDC from Gerry Marzorati, editor of The New York Times Magazine, welcoming Peter Baker to the magazine:

Folks,

Our distinguished stable of contributing writers is about to getŠwell, more distinguished. Peter Baker, the Washington Post's senior White House correspondent, is joining the Magazine.

Over the past 20 years, Baker has had a number of important beats with the Post, and his name has been a regular feature of that paper's front-page.

He covered the Clinton White House, and wrote a best-selling book, "The Breach," about the Clinton-Lewinsky controversy and the impeachment of the President. He served as the Post's Moscow Bureau chief - and co-authored, with his wife Susan Glasser, a book on Vladimir Putin -- and has reported on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Along with covering the Bush White House, Baker has contributed to the Post's campaign coverage (including a column for their on-line election diary, The Trail); is a regular panelist on PBS's "Washington Week"; and is currently working on a book on the Bush presidency to be published by Doubleday.

He is worldly, aggressive, and ambitious about his reporting and his writing -- all things that will quickly make him a valued magazine journalist.

Expect to see his first cover story for us in the fall.

Gerry

The Washington Post's Peter Baker sent this farewell note, obtained by FishbowlDC, to his colleagues today. Baker is joining the New York Times.

Dear friends and colleagues,

This is the note I never expected to write. I'd always figured my farewell to the Post would come in the form of a tiny little obituary stuffed at the bottom of B6: "Ancient Reporter Keels Over On Deadline." But life is full of surprises and it turns out that after 20 wonderful years at the Post, it's time to move on.

While I'm excited about future opportunities, this is also a wrenching moment, for nearly everyone I love in the world, it seems, works right here. The Post has been home for nearly my entire adult life and has given me everything I could ever want, including a beautiful and amazing wife. For a kid who grew up in the Washington suburbs devouring every morning's Post, working here has been literally a dream come true. There's no finer team of journalists or colleagues. But change is good for people, just as it is for newspapers.

Thank you for all your support and friendship through good times and bad. Please stay in touch. I can be reached at [REDACTED].

All best,
Peter Baker

The WaPo's AME/Style, Deb Heard, has taken the paper's buyout package, FishbowlDC has learned.

UPDATE: Heard's note to staffers...

Good morning. I finally made a decision; yes, Im taking the buyout. The money was just too tempting. So was the idea of a new adventure. (One of the first things I did during my vacation was renewing my passport!) Ill be here until the end of the year so Ill make the magical "rule of 80" and can also help with a transition for the next person fortunate enough to have this amazing job.

After only four months on the job, Kevin Wittman has resigned from his position as president of Post-Newsweek Media, Inc., FishbowlDC has learned.

The official reason given is that Wittman had been commuting back and forth to the area from New Jersey and ultimately found the travel too overwhelming. Wittman has decided to remain in the Garden State with his family.

Post-Newsweek Media, Inc. CEO and Publisher Chuck Lyons told staffers in an email, "During his time with us this year, Kevin has made significant contributions to our operations during a very challenging economic time. ... We are grateful for Kevin's service and wish him much success in the future."

Wittman oversaw Post-Newsweek Media, Inc.'s 41 publications: 12 Comprint Military Publications newspapers, 22 Gazette newspapers and seven Southern Maryland newspapers.

Big, big local journo news: The Boston Globe's Charlie Savage (a Pulitzer winner) is leaving the paper for the New York Times. Boston Phoenix has the scoop.

FishbowlDC has learned that Beth Bronder will be the new publisher of Governing magazine. Founding publisher/editor Peter Harkness retires this summer. Mark Stencel will be the new editor. Currently, Bronder is Vice President, Advertising Sales, CQ Inc.

From the release:

The New America Foundation today announced that Andres Martinez, former editorial page editor of the Los Angeles Times, will become director of the Bernard L. Schwartz Fellows Program, which seeks to identify and support the next generation of American public policy scholars and writers.

New America provides financial, professional and institutional support for up to 35 fellows each year. Its fellows program seeks out individuals whose research and ideas promise to bring forward exceptionally promising new thinking about the most pressing issues facing the United States.

Mr. Martinez was the editorial page editor of the Los Angeles Times from 2004-2007, and also presided over the newspaper's op-ed page and Sunday opinion section. He previously served as assistant editorial page editor at The New York Times and was a member of that newspaper’s editorial board from 2000 to 2004.