Babington And The Post
Some interesting stuff took place recently at the Post…
One of Susan Glasser’s first moves as new AME/National was to replace congressional reporter Charles Babington. (Apparently, everyone in the newsroom knew of those plans except, of course, Chuck).
So, late last week, AME/Metro Bob McCartney calls Babington into his office and tells Babington that he’d like for him to cover Annapolis (which Babington already covered roughly ten years ago), since Matthew Mosk would be moving to National. But Babington indicated his preference for his current beat and his desire to continue at it.
Too bad, was the Post’s reaction, according to Post sources.
As a result, many Posties flooded management’s offices to complain about the treatment shown Babington, a newspaper veteran. While most people agree that Glasser (and others in her position) are entitled to move people around as they see fit, it was felt that Babington’s situation was handled poorly and that, instead, they should have called him in to express management’s wishes (and any criticisms) and see how to best square them with Babington’s own goals.
Earlier this week, Phil Bennett did some damage control and spoke with AME/Financial Sandra Sugawara and McCartney. Long story short? Chuck’s now going to work in Financial covering telecommunications.
>UPDATE: We’ve gotten three interesting notes from Posties.
One Postie says that the Babington move was in the works before Glasser took control. But another Postie notes that Glasser could have reversed any earlier decision regardless. Still another says that both points are moot: It’s not the “when”, it’s the “how” (i.e. how it was handled).
Launch a social media campaign that will build your brand and deliver results in our online 
Nadine Cheung
Editor, The Job Post
FishbowlDC Twitter feed loading...
