Frederick J. Ryan Jr. Replaces Katharine Weymouth as Publisher at the Washington Post

[Toogs]

Please reach out in any way you can to ask him to get rid of Sietsema so perhaps we can have a real food critic who doesn't pander to his friends at the most important paper in the city.

"Post Names Frederick J. Ryan Jr. As New Publisher" by Craig Timberg, Chico Harlan, and Peter Whoriskey on washingtonpost.com

[DaveO]

I'm a long long time fan of the Washington Post.  The above referenced change replacing Katherine Weymouth with Frederick Ryan is the final nail in the coffin for Wash Post involvement by the Graham family. I got to meet Katherine and Donald Graham more than once. Someone with whom I was close was a highly valued long term Post employee.  The Graham's valued, liked, and honored her over many years. She maintained a contact with them. I heard some "insider stories". Over many decades one thing that often distinguished the Graham's from other stewards of other businesses was a tight and concerned connection to employees.  By example in the '80's in lieu of firing their technology staff and replacing them w/ people familiar with the new technologies of the day they retrained a large staff.  That was incredibly unusual at that time. I heard other stories of a similar vein.

Its now a privately owned business. The public no longer gets to see financial performance. I hope the change at the top maintains the current level of coverage and perspective. We'll see over the term.

I've witnessed the changing of the guard of a certain number of older Washington Institutions.  To me this is the biggest in my time. Good luck to those who work there.

As to Sietsma, I think the new publisher has a million and one concerns, Sietsma being one of them and certainly not the biggest issue or the most pressing topic.