The troubled Washington Post staff has been hit with two pieces of employee news this week -- one good and one not so good.
The negative news is that Philip Rucker -- a Washington Post national editor and Pulitzer Prize winner -- is leaving the Post after 20 years, to join CNN as senior vice president of editorial strategy and news.
Rucker will help shape CNN’s coverage of the second Trump administration, the New York Post reports.
“I look forward to collaborating with the world-class journalists at CNN to help chart a new era of digital transformation,” Rucker said in a statement, according to the New York Post.
The more positive news is that Rachel Van Dongen, who helped drive the Washington Post’s 2024 election coverage, is assuming the title of senior editor for national news and strategy.
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Van Dongen will help oversee daily news coverage on the National desk while working on audience strategy and new storytelling initiatives. She has served two stints at the Post over 15 years.
Last week, 400 Washington Post employees sent a letter to owner Jeff Bezos, asking for a meeting to address the seeming chaos at the publication.
Recent departures have included opinion columnist Jennifer Rubin, who resigned to start a publication called The Contrarian with the so-called White House ethics czar Norm Eisen.