WaPo Names Brauchli Top Editor

Politico, FishbowlDC and Portfolio have been predicting it for a while (though maybe the Times doesn’t read other blogs?), and now it’s official: the Washington Post has named Marcus W. Brauchli as its new executive editor.

Brauchli’s appointment follows a period of some upheaval at WaPo that saw a large buyout at the paper as well as the appointment of new publisher Katharine Weymouth. Long-time WaPo executive editor Len Downie announced his retirement last month, and many see this appointment as Weymouth’s attempt to “put her stamp on one of the nation’s great newspapers.” Brauchli was most recently managing editor at the Wall St. Journal but resigned in April amidst rumors that he no longer felt welcome under Rupe‘s new regime. Is this just the beginning of structural changes at WaPo? FBDC seems to think so, apparently they’ve been hearing that that some managing editors may be added to the mix or that an entirely different leadership structure may eventually be put in place. They also have Weymouth’s full memo announcing the appointment.

Create a social media strategy, launch your campaign, and track the results in our Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting February 16. The online event and workshop will feature speakers including The Onion‘s Baratunde Thurston (left), Facebook’s Morin Oluwole, and bitly’s Tim Devane. Register now.