Robert Winnett, the editor selected to run The Washington Post, will not take up that position, after reports raised questions about his ties to unethical news gathering practices in Britain.
Mr. Winnett will stay at The Daily Telegraph, where he is the deputy editor, according to emails sent on Friday to employees of the London-based newspaper and to staff at The Post.
“I’m pleased to report that Rob Winnett has decided to stay with us,” read a message to Telegraph employees from the newspaper’s top editor, Chris Evans. “As you all know, he’s a talented chap and their loss is our gain.”
Will Lewis, the chief executive of The Post, confirmed the news in an email to staff.
“It is with regret that I share with you that Robert Winnett has withdrawn from the position of editor at The Washington Post,” Mr. Lewis wrote. “Rob has my greatest respect and is an incredibly talented editor and journalist.” He said that The Post would run a search to fill that role.
Mr. Winnett did not immediately respond to a call seeking comment.
Mr. Winnett earned a reputation as an unassuming newshound whose relentless pursuit of scoops earned him the nickname “Rat Boy.” But his appointment to the top editing job at The Post was jeopardized by recent reports in The New York Times and The Washington Post that detailed his connection to a private investigator who acknowledged using unethical means to obtain information.
The connection, revealed first by The Times and confirmed by The Post, raised alarm bells among Washington Post journalists, many of whom privately said that they believed he was an unworthy candidate to run one of America’s pre-eminent newsrooms.
On Friday, several Washington Post journalists told The Times that they were relieved Mr. Winnett would not be leading their newsroom.
“Rat Boy is out!” one journalist said in a text message.
Mr. Winnett had been expected to take over as The Post’s editor after the U.S. presidential election in November. Matt Murray, the former editor in chief of The Wall Street Journal, is slated to replace Sally Buzbee, The Post’s previous top editor, in an interim role until then.
In his email, Mr. Lewis said that Mr. Murray would continue as The Post’s top editor until after the U.S. elections. He said that The Post was planning to put in place a new division focused on so-called service journalism sometime in the first quarter of next year. Mr. Murray was slated to take over the new division at the time Mr. Winnett’s appointment was announced.
The decision by Mr. Winnett to step aside is a major setback for Will Lewis, the chief executive of The Post, who hired the British editor in a shake-up of The Post’s editorial ranks. Ms. Buzbee resigned after Mr. Lewis undertook a dramatic reorganization of the newspaper that would have sidelined her.
Mr. Lewis has also come under fire in recent days after The Times reported that he clashed with Ms. Buzbee over a decision to cover a court development mentioning him in a phone hacking case. (Mr. Lewis has denied pressuring Ms. Buzbee.) The next day, an NPR reporter said that Mr. Lewis had promised him an exclusive interview in exchange for ignoring a story about phone hacking. In response, Mr. Lewis called that reporter an “activist” and acknowledged having an off-the-record conversation with him.
Still more revelations came to light about Mr. Lewis and Mr. Winnett. Last week, The New York Times reported that Mr. Lewis and Mr. Winnett were said to have used fraudulently obtained records in news articles at the Sunday Times newspaper in London. The next day, The Washington Post followed up with a 3,000-word investigation into Mr. Winnett that traced his ties to John Ford, a private investigator who acknowledged using unethical methods to obtain big exclusives.
With Mr. Winnett no longer joining The Post, it remains to be seen who will lead the newsroom on a permanent basis. The Post has typically conducted a lengthy search to fill its top editor position, culminating with an interview with The Post’s owner, Jeff Bezos, and its chief executive. The appointment of Mr. Winnett was somewhat unconventional by Post standards: Mr. Lewis initially told Ms. Buzbee she would be allowed to pick a co-editor to run The Post’s news operations, then informed her that Mr. Winnett would be joining The Post.
