Brauchli takes over reins at Washington Post

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Marcus Brauchli, a journalist with dual Swiss-American citizenship, is to take over as executive editor of the renowned Washington Post newspaper in September.

Brauchli, aged 47 and a former editor of the Wall Street Journal, is set to face the challenge of integrating the news teams of the newspaper and the web.

The nomination of an outsider to the prestigious journal is being seen as a desire for change on the part of the paper’s publisher, Katharine Weymouth.

Brauchli has Swiss nationality from his father. He was born in the United States but doesn’t neglect his second country as he makes frequent visits to Switzerland.

He maintains links with the Swiss embassy in Washington and the Swiss-American Chamber of Commerce where he recently gave a speech.

The choice of Brauchli – an outsider – did not come as a surprise as a result of that part of his CV. The Washington Post has a reputation for the remarkable stability of its editorial staff and has only had two editors since 1968 – two establishment figures.

Before Leonard Downie, who is now stepping down after 17 years, the very charismatic Ben Bradlee led the paper.

Watergate

It was Bradlee who supervised the impressive investigation into Watergate, which earned two of his star journalists, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, the Pulitzer Prize, and led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon.

Before succeeding Bradlee in 1991, Downie had been his right hand man for several years, having joined the Post in 1964. The paper won 25 Pulitzer prizes under Downie’s leadership, six last year alone.

Brauchli’s appointment was nonetheless well received both inside and outside the paper.

“The Washington Post is without doubt moving away from its tradition of drawing from its in-house pool of talent, but Brauchli brings his Wall Street Journal experience where he was in charge of successfully integrating the web and newspaper staff,” commented media analyst John Morton. “His peers have a very high opinion of him.”

Morton added that an external opinion would be welcome at The Post because the tensions within the two editorial staffs are real.

Editorial operations

“Brauchli will oversee the editorial operations of both The Washington Post newspaper and of washingtonpost.com,” a statement said.

Publisher Weymouth – a descendant of the Graham family and granddaughter of the legendary Katherine Graham – was full of praise for the new man who will stand at the helm.

“Marcus brings a wealth of experience, both as a journalist and as an editor, that will help us navigate the new world of media,” she said.

Brauchli will also have two other problems to try to solve – the erosion of sales and lower advertising revenues.

The Post’s circulation has fallen below the 700,000-level to 673,180, a loss of 7.1 per cent over the past two years, according to figures from the Audit Bureau of Circulations. Revenues were down by 13 per cent last year.

Job cuts

The Post now has only 700 journalists compared with 900 in 2003. New job cuts cannot be ruled out, particularly if the newspaper and web staff merge. The number of unique visitors is up to 9.4 million a month.

Brauchli told his new colleagues he knows the challenge he faces.

“My mantra has been, we are not defined by medium; we are defined by our approach to journalism.

“If The Washington Post, which has a very strong brand, can reach people who want sound, thoughtful, balanced journalism — free of cant, free of slant – they will come to The Post in print, online, on mobile phones, expecting those qualities.”

swissinfo, based on an article in French by Maria Pia Mascaro in New York

Marcus Brauchli

Born in Boulder, Colorado, Brauchli began his career with Dow Jones in 1984. He then joined the Wall Street Journal, acting as a correspondent in Scandinavia, Tokyo and Shanghai.

Returning to New York in 1999, he quickly rose through the ranks and was named editor in 2007.

He was forced to resign less than a year later, in April, three months after Rupert Murdoch bought the Journal. Brauchli takes over his new post at the Washington Post on September 8.