Dan Balz Becomes WaPo's First <em>Ever</em> Chief Correspondent

Chief Balz. Has a ring to it, right? Today WaPo's Executive Editor Marcus Brauchli announces that Dan Balz is becoming the publication's first ever Chief Correspondent. The decision reflects his "great stature" and "many accomplishments" and his "ambition." His new role comes with perks: Balz will now be part of the leadership team which will let him in on weekly meetings and presumably key decisions on coverage. He will still cover the 2012 presidential trail. After that...is more of an unknown destination based on his curiosity. See the internal memo... We are pleased to announce that Dan Balz will become The Washington Post’s first Chief Correspondent. This designation reflects Dan’s great stature and many accomplishments over three decades, as well as his ambition to widen his range and do even more. In this new role, Dan will become a more formal member of our leadership team, participating in decisions about the future of our journalism and our path as a newsroom. He will attend the weekly senior editors’ meeting and participate in other forums where discussions take place about our work and direction. As Chief Correspondent, Dan will have the latitude to go beyond politics, to collaborate with other writers, to nurture some, to edit some, and to develop projects of his own. But first there is politics. In the short term, Dan will continue to chronicle the presidential campaign as it unfolds, as well as play a central role in the architecture of our 2012 coverage. Working with National Political Editor Steven Ginsberg and Deputy National Political Editors Terry Samuel and Rachel Van Dongen, he will be directly involved in the crucial decisions about structure, deployments, projects and daily coverage. After 2012, Dan’s curiosity and wide-ranging interests will guide him. For those who are unfamiliar with Dan’s biography, he arrived at The Post in 1978 by way of the National Journal. He has been the Post’s national editor, its national political editor, a White House correspondent, a national bureau correspondent based in the Southwest, and for many years our lead political writer. He co-authored, with Ron Brownstein, the 1996 book, “Storming the Gates: Protest Politics and the Republican Revival.” He also co-authored, with Haynes Johnson, the 2009 book, “The Battle for America 2008: The Story of an Extraordinary Election.” This year, Dan won the White House Correspondents’ Association award for presidential coverage under deadline pressure. Dan has been a guiding force and inspiration to many in our newsroom. Tapping his wisdom, experience and institutional knowledge, in a more defined way, will only make us better. Please join us in congratulating Dan on his new role. Marcus Liz Kevin

Fishbowl

Dan Balz Becomes WaPo's First Ever Chief Correspondent

Betsy Rothstein

About

Subscriptions

Events

Publications

WORK SMARTER - LEARN, GROW AND BE INSPIRED.

Subscribe today!

Betsy Rothstein