Washington Post adding 41 editing jobs, vows to increase number of editors of color

The Washington Post plans to hire more than three dozen editors as part of its latest expansion and push for a more diverse newsroom. 

In a memo to staff on Monday, Executive Editor Sally Buzbee and the rest of the newspaper’s leadership team said adding the 41 editing jobs will grow the newspaper’s “capacity to produce timely breaking news, revelatory enterprise and definitive investigative work; create visually rich stories that our audiences find compelling; cover topics that resonate with younger, more diverse readers; and develop innovations that will define a new era of digital journalism.” 

Hiring for the new jobs will also allow the Post to increase the number of journalists of color in editing roles, the outlet’s leadership wrote. 

Among the hires will be two positions for standards editors who the newspaper said will “refine and maintain newsroom policies,” and a recruiting editor who will work with two more editors to head up newsroom recruiting efforts. Those two positions will be “critical to the fulfillment of our strong commitment to diversity,” Post leadership said. 

“This expansion demonstrates anew that The Washington Post is an ascendant news organization, with boundless ambitions and a growing capacity to meet them,” they said. “We hope you’ll join us in taking a moment to reflect on all we have accomplished – it is your success that enables the company to strengthen the newsroom in this way. We feel privileged to join you in the important work that lies ahead.”