One other veteran Washington Publish journalist fled the Jeff Bezos-owned broadsheet on Tuesday — becoming a member of an exodus of expertise after administration spiked an endorsement of former Vice President Kamala Harris.
CNN introduced on Tuesday that Philip Rucker, a Pulitzer Prize winner and longtime Washington Publish nationwide editor, is becoming a member of the community as senior vice chairman of editorial technique and information.
Rucker’s departure follows a wave of resignations in current weeks as a result of rising dissatisfaction with the Washington Publish’s management.
Rucker spent 20 years at WaPo, incomes a status as one of the revered chroniclers of President Trump’s first time period.
He co-authored two bestselling books about his presidency.
A Washington Publish spokesperson confirmed Rucker’s departure, telling the New York Publish that the publication needs him the most effective.
In his new place at CNN, Rucker will play a pivotal function in shaping the community’s protection of the second Trump administration.
He’ll oversee political newsgathering efforts and assist combine that reporting throughout CNN’s varied platforms, together with its digital shops.
“I look forward to collaborating with the world-class journalists at CNN to help chart a new era of digital transformation,” Rucker stated in an announcement.
His departure comes after greater than 400 Washington Publish staffers despatched a letter to Bezos begging him to intervene on the paper’s course.
Bezos, the Amazon founder who purchased the venerable Beltway paper in 2013, and Will Lewis, its CEO and writer, blocked the editorial board from publishing an endorsement of Harris simply weeks earlier than the Nov. 5 election.
The transfer triggered widespread anger amongst readers, with a reported 250,000 of them canceling their subscriptions in response.
The choice additionally pushed many high-profile staffers to depart, together with Jennifer Rubin, the veteran opinion columnist and outspoken Trump critic, who introduced final week that she would be a part of a startup publication based by former Obama official Norm Eisen.
A number of different journalists give up the editorial board. Within the weeks that adopted, quite a lot of the newspaper’s prime reporters and editors, together with Ashley Parker and Josh Dawsey, departed.
Parker and Michael Scherer, each senior political reporters, left the Washington Publish to affix The Atlantic, the left-leaning publication owned by billionaire Laurene Powell Jobs.
Ann Telnaes, a Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist, resigned after the paper declined to publish her cartoon mocking Bezos and different tech moguls kneeling earlier than Trump.
She criticized the choice as detrimental to press freedom.
Rucker can be primarily based at CNN’s Washington bureau and is ready to start his function on February 10.
Rucker’s hiring comes at a pivotal second for CNN.
Throughout Trump’s first presidency, the community took a confrontational stance in its protection, which grew to become a defining aspect of its strategy to political reporting.
Beneath the management of community boss Mark Thompson, CNN is claimed to be looking for a extra balanced tone.
An indication of change got here final week when it was reported that Thompson wished to maneuver anti-Trump anchor Jim Acosta to the graveyard shift.
The Publish has sought remark from CNN.
