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Leonard "Len" Downie Jr. (born May 1, 1942) is an American journalist who was
executive editor Executive (Exe (disambiguation), exe., Exec (disambiguation), exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (exec ...
of ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' from 1991 to 2008. He worked in the ''Post'' newsroom for 44 years. His roles at the newspaper included executive editor, managing editor, national editor, London correspondent, assistant managing editor for metropolitan news, deputy metropolitan editor, and investigative and local reporter. Downie became executive editor upon the retirement of
Ben Bradlee Benjamin Crowninshield Bradlee (, 1921 – , 2014) was an American journalist who served as managing editor, then as executive editor of ''The Washington Post'', from 1965 to 1991. He became a public figure when the ''Post'' joined ''The New Y ...
. During Downie's tenure as executive editor, the ''Washington Post'' won 25
Pulitzer Prizes The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made hi ...
, more than any other newspaper had won during the term of a single executive editor. Downie currently serves as vice president at large at the ''Washington Post'', as Weil Family Professor of Journalism at the
Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication (often abbreviated to The Cronkite School by its students and faculty), is one of the 24 independent schools at Arizona State University and is named in honor of veteran broadcast jo ...
at Arizona State University, and as a member of several advisory boards associated with journalism and public affairs. Downie is the author of six nonfiction books: ''All About the Story: News, Power, Politics, and the Washington Post'' (2020); ''The News Media: What Everyone Needs To Know''(with C.W. Anderson and Michael Schudson, 2016); ''The News About the News'' (with Robert G. Kaiser, 2003); ''The New Muckrakers'' (1976); ''Mortgage on America'' (1974) and ''Justice Denied: The Case for Reform of the Courts'' (1971) ''The News About the News'' won the Goldsmith Award from the Joan Shorenstein Center at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. Downie was also a major contributor to ''Ten Blocks from the White House: Anatomy of the Washington Riots of 1968'' and has written many newspaper and magazine articles. He authored two major special reports for the Committee to Protect Journalists, ''The Trump Administration and the Press'' (2020) and ''The Obama Administration and the Press'' (2013) and co-authored “The Reconstruction of American Journalism” (2209), a major report on the state of the news media, published by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. In 2009, Random House published his fiction debut, ''The Rules of the Game''.


Early life and education

Downie grew up in and around
Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
,
Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
. He decided to become a journalist at the age of eleven and edited student newspapers at his elementary school and at Wilbur Wright Junior High School and John Marshall High School."Len Downie" National Press Foundation

Accessed March 16, 2012.
He received his BA and MA degrees in journalism and political science from
Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...
. While at Ohio State, he served as sports editor of the student newspaper ''
The Lantern ''The Lantern'' is an independent daily newspaper in Columbus, Ohio, by students at Ohio State University. It is one of the largest campus newspapers in the United States, reaching a circulation of 15,000. Copies of the paper are free and avail ...
''. During his tenure there he covered
Ohio State football The Ohio State Buckeyes football team competes as part of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, representing Ohio State University in the East Division of the Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the ...
as well as the riots that surrounded the school's decision to turn down a bid to the
1962 Rose Bowl The 1962 Rose Bowl, played on January 1, 1962, was the 48th Rose Bowl Game. The Minnesota Golden Gophers defeated the UCLA Bruins, 21–3. Big Ten Conference champion Ohio State declined the invitation to play in the Rose Bowl. Days after the co ...
.Richard Oviatt
Washington Post editor Leonard Downie Jr. talks past, future
, ''The Lantern'', February 12, 2009, Accessed February 14, 2009.
In June 1993, he received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Ohio State, in conjunction with his address during the university's commencement exercises. Downie has been married three times. He has four children and two stepchildren. His eldest son,
David L. Downie David Leonard Downie (born 1961) is an American scholar focusing on international environmental politics and policy. He currently writes and teaches at Fairfield University. Research and writings Downie's research focuses on factors that can promot ...
, is a scholar of international environmental policy.


Career

Downie first joined the ''Washington Post'' as a summer intern in 1964. He soon became a well-known local investigative reporter in Washington, specializing in crime, courts, housing and urban affairs. His 1966 investigative series on the malfunctioning local court system in Washington, D.C. helped lead to the system's abolition and replacement by the D.C. Superior Court. His reporting during his time on the metro staff won him two Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild Front Page awards, the American Bar Association Gavel Award for legal reporting, and the John Hancock Award for excellent business and financial writing. In 1971, he was awarded a two-year Alicia Patterson Journalism Fellowship to study urban problems in the United States and Europe. Downie's first three books grew out of his newspaper journalism during those years. ''Justice Denied'' (Praeger, 1971) examined poorly functioning city courts across the country. ''Mortgage on America'' (Praeger, 1974) investigated the impact and costs of certain types of destructive urban real estate speculation. ''The New Muckrakers'' (New Republic Books, 1976) detailed the rise and impact of a new generation of investigative reporters, including his colleagues
Bob Woodward Robert Upshur Woodward (born March 26, 1943) is an American investigative journalist. He started working for ''The Washington Post'' as a reporter in 1971 and now holds the title of associate editor. While a young reporter for ''The Washingto ...
and
Carl Bernstein Carl Milton Bernstein ( ; born February 14, 1944) is an American investigative journalist and author. While a young reporter for ''The Washington Post'' in 1972, Bernstein was teamed up with Bob Woodward, and the two did much of the original new ...
. Earlier, Downie had also been a major contributor to the book, ''Ten Blocks From the White House: Anatomy of the Washington Riots of 1968'' (Praeger, 1968), drawing on his first hand reporting of the riots and their aftermath. Downie worked on the ''Post's'' metropolitan staff as a reporter and editor for 15 years, and ran the staff as assistant managing editor for metropolitan news from 1974 until 1979. As deputy metropolitan editor, Downie supervised much of the ''Post's'' Watergate coverage. According to
Bob Woodward Robert Upshur Woodward (born March 26, 1943) is an American investigative journalist. He started working for ''The Washington Post'' as a reporter in 1971 and now holds the title of associate editor. While a young reporter for ''The Washingto ...
's 2005 book ''The Secret Man'', Downie was one of the few people to know the true identity of
Watergate The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon from 1972 to 1974 that led to Nixon's resignation. The scandal stemmed from the Nixon administration's continual ...
scandal informant Deep Throat before it was revealed to be
Mark Felt William Mark Felt Sr. (August 17, 1913 – December 18, 2008) was an American law enforcement officer who worked for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from 1942 to 1973 and was known for his role in the Watergate scandal. Felt wa ...
. Downie was named London correspondent in 1979 and worked in this capacity until mid-1982, covering the rise of
Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...
, the troubles in
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
, the royal wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana, and the Falklands War. He returned to Washington in 1982 as national editor. He became managing editor in 1984. He became executive editor in 1991, succeeding
Benjamin Bradlee Benjamin Crowninshield Bradlee (, 1921 – , 2014) was an American journalist who served as managing editor, then as executive editor of ''The Washington Post'', from 1965 to 1991. He became a public figure when the ''Post'' joined ''The New Y ...
. As national editor, managing editor, and then executive editor, Downie personally oversaw the ''Washington Post's'' coverage of every national election from 1984 through 2008. During his 17 years as executive editor, Downie led the newsroom to 25 Pulitzer Prizes, including three gold medals for public service. Downie's mantra—reflected in routine stories as well as such Pulitzer-winning efforts as the 2007 exposé of shoddy conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center—was "accountability journalism." After 44 years in the Post newsroom, Downie retired as executive editor in 2008. That year, the National Press Foundation named Downie the Benjamin Bradlee Editor of the Year. In 2008, Downie was appointed as vice president at large of the Washington Post Co. In 2009, he became the Weil Family Professor of Journalism at the
Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication (often abbreviated to The Cronkite School by its students and faculty), is one of the 24 independent schools at Arizona State University and is named in honor of veteran broadcast jo ...
at Arizona State University. Downie is also a founder and board member of
Investigative Reporters and Editors Investigative Reporters and Editors, Inc. (IRE) is a nonprofit organization that focuses on improving the quality of journalism, in particular investigative journalism. Formed in 1975, it presents the IRE Awards and holds conferences and training ...
, Inc (2009–present); a member of the
Aspen Institute The Aspen Institute is an international nonprofit organization founded in 1949 as the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies. The institute's stated aim is the realization of "a free, just, and equitable society" through seminars, policy programs ...
Commission to Reform the Federal Appointments Process; a former member of the Board of Directors of the
Center for Investigative Reporting The Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR) is a nonprofit news organization based in Emeryville, California. It was founded in 1977 as the nation’s first nonprofit investigative journalism organization, and has since grown into a multi-platf ...
(2009–present); Chair of the National Advisory Committee, Kaiser Health News (2009–present); an advisory board member of the
Shirley Povich Shirley Lewis Povich (July 15, 1905 – June 4, 1998) was an American sports columnist and reporter for ''The Washington Post''. Biography Povich's parents were Jewish immigrants from Lithuania. Having grown up in coastal Bar Harbor, Maine ...
Center for Sports Journalism at the University of Maryland's Philip Merrill College of Journalism; and a director of the
Los Angeles Times-Washington Post News Service LOS, or Los, or LoS may refer to: Science and technology * Length of stay, the duration of a single episode of hospitalisation * Level of service, a measure used by traffic engineers * Level of significance, a measure of statistical significance ...
. In 2009, Random House published Downie's fictional debut, ''The Rules of the Game''. Random House described the book as "a novel of corruption and cover-ups at the highest levels of Washington politics, as a national newspaper digs up the dark secrets of a powerful lobbying firm thereby exposing a network of wrongdoing by government contractors in Iraq that extends all the way to the White House." In addition to his books, and publications in the ''Washington Post'', Downie has written articles for a variety of publications, including the ''Columbia Journalism Review'', ''The New Republic'', and ''Washington Monthly''. In 2009, Downie co-authored, with Columbia University Professor Michael Schudson, a major report on the state of the news media, "The Reconstruction of American Journalism," which was published by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. Downie has spoken at Oxford University, Columbia University,
Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...
,
Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...
, Harvard University, Stanford University,
Fairfield University Fairfield University is a private Jesuit university in Fairfield, Connecticut. It was founded by the Jesuits in 1942. In 2017, the university had about 4,100 full-time undergraduate students and 1,100 graduate students, including full-time ...
,Former Washington Post executive editor to open new lecture series at Fairfield University with post-election talk, , viewed 20 November 2012 Arizona State University, the University of Wisconsin, the University of Kentucky, Chautauqua, and for the American Society of Newspaper Editors, among others. He gave the Flinn Foundation Centennial Lecture at Arizona State University in October 2008, a keynote address at the
Nieman Foundation The Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University is the primary journalism institution at Harvard. It was founded in February 1938 as the result of a $1.4 million bequest by Agnes Wahl Nieman, the widow of Lucius W. Nieman, founder of ' ...
Seventieth Anniversary Convocation at Harvard University in November 2008, and the keynote address at the 2009 graduation event of the
Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication (often abbreviated to The Cronkite School by its students and faculty), is one of the 24 independent schools at Arizona State University and is named in honor of veteran broadcast jo ...
, a commencement address at Ohio State University, and the
James Cameron James Francis Cameron (born August 16, 1954) is a Canadian filmmaker. A major figure in the post-New Hollywood era, he is considered one of the industry's most innovative filmmakers, regularly pushing the boundaries of cinematic capability w ...
Memorial Lecture at City University, London, among others. He has been interviewed frequently on network, cable, and local television, on national and local public radio, and by print reporters and academic researchers.


Awards and honors

*Award for Editorial Leadership, American Society of News Editors, 2009. *Ben Bradlee Editor of the Year Award, National Press Foundation, 2008. *Goldsmith Award, Joan Shorenstein Center, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, for ''The News About the News'' (with Robert G. Kaiser) 2003. *Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from The Ohio State University, 1993. *Overseas Press Club Citation for Excellence for coverage of Britain. *Gavel Award of the American Bar Association for coverage of the courts. *John Hancock Award for Excellence in Business and Financial Journalism. *Front Page Award, Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild. *Alicia Patterson Journalism Fellowship.


Selected publications

Books: *''All About the Story: News, Power, Politics, and the Washington Post'', PublicAffairs, 2020. *''The News Media: What Everyone Needs To Know''(with C.W. Anderson and Michael Schudson), Oxford University Press, 2016. *''The Rules of the Game'' (a novel), Alfred A. Knopf, 2009. *''The News About the News'' (with Robert G. Kaiser), Alfred A. Knopf, 2002; Vintage (paperback), 2003. *''The New Muckrakers'', New Republic Books, 1976; Mentor (paperback), 1978. *''Mortgage on America'', Frederick A. Praeger, 1974, (paperback) 1975. *''Justice Denied: The Case for Reform of the Courts'', Frederick A. Praeger, 1971; Penguin (paperback), 1972. Report: *''The Trump Administration and the Press'' (with research by Stephanie Sugars). A special report of the Committee to Protect Journalists, 2020 *''The Obama Administration and the Press'' (with reporting by Sara Rafsky). A special report of the Committee to Protect Journalists, 2013. *''The Reconstruction of American Journalism'' (with Michael Schudson), Columbia University, 2009. Contributor: *''Ten Blocks From the White House: Anatomy of the Washington Riots of 1968'' (Ben Gilbert and the staff of The Washington Post), Frederick A. Praeger, 1968. *''Inside the System'' (Washington Monthly book edited by Charles Peters and John Rothchild), Frederick A. Praeger, 1973. Articles: * Various, including in the ''Columbia Journalism Review'', ''The New Republic'', ''Washington Monthly'', and ''The Washington Post''.


References


External links


Washington Post
editor bio
Cronkite School, ASU bioNational Press Foundation Bio

About Leonard Downie Jr.
Random House Speakers Bureau Bio.
The Urban Order of the North
a 1972 report by Downie on the urban problems in
Vällingby Vällingby () is a suburban district in Västerort in the western part of Stockholm Municipality, Sweden. History The agricultural land where the modern suburb now stands, has a history stretching some 2,000 years back (i.e. at least twice ...
,
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
and Nordweststadt,
Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
,
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
. *
"Arizona State University Beats Competition to Hire the Washington Post's Len Downie"
Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers, U.S. News & World Report, December 8, 2008.
Exploring Accountability Journalism with Len Downie
{{DEFAULTSORT:Downie, Leonard Jr. 1942 births Living people American male journalists Ohio State University School of Communication alumni The Washington Post people American newspaper editors