Newsroom Exodus Continues; He’ll Cover Poverty
Short Takes: Dr. Mallika Marshall; Carla Wills; Tacuma Roeback; FCC’s “history of structural racism”; starving journalists in Gaza; increase in violence against Latin American journalists; abducted Liberian journalist
Homepage photo: Toluse Olorunnipa accepts congratulations in the Washington Post newsroom after announcements for Pulitizer Prizes of 2023. (Credit: Washington Post)
Toluse Olorunnipa discusses the 2024 presidential campaign with the Kirk Documentary Group’s Michael Kirk for “Frontline” on July 24, 2024. (Credit: Frontline/YouTube)
Newsroom Exodus Continues; He’ll Cover Poverty
Toluse Olorunnipa, White House bureau chief at the Washington Post and co-author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning “His Name Is George Floyd,” has left the Post amid the buyouts that are sweeping the Post news and opinion sections. He has joined the Atlantic magazine.
“I’ll be writing about poverty, inequality and policy — looking at the impact of the federal government on people around the country,” Olorunnipa, 39, messaged Journal-isms on Thursday.
His departure is unrelated to the buyouts, as they were offered only to those who had been in the newsroom for 10 years or more, or were in the Opinion section. “I had only been at the Post for 6.5 years,” Olorunnipa later told Journal-isms.
The Atlantic is also hiring Quinta Jurecic, contributing writer at the Atlantic, and from the Wall Street JournaL, Nancy Youssef and Vivian Salama
A little personal update: Today is my first day @TheAtlantic. I’m thrilled to be joining some old friends and meeting some brilliant folks who I’ve admired from afar. Looking forward to being a part of something special.
Send tips!: toluse@theatlantic.com
— Toluse Olorunnipa (@ToluseO) July 21, 2025
“Today is my first day @TheAtlantic . I’m thrilled to be joining some old friends and meeting some brilliant folks who I’ve admired from afar,” Olorunnipa wrote Monday on X. “Looking forward to being a part of something special.”
“Speaking of something special,” he added, “I’ll always have incredibly fond memories of my 6.5 years at The Washington Post. I got to cover 3 presidencies, write a book, become a parent (2x) and share many other big moments with awesome colleagues who were also great friends. ????”
A June 19 news release from the Atlantic described Olorunnipa as a “Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter known for his thoughtfulness, brilliant writing, and years of experience covering politics at the highest level.
“He is equally at home questioning presidents in the Oval Office as he is documenting the impact of their decision-making on the people they ostensibly serve. He joins us from The Washington Post, where he has been a national political reporter and the paper’s White House bureau chief. Before joining the Post, Tolu did stints at Bloomberg News and The Miami Herald.”
In awarding Olorunnipa and fellow Post writer Robert Samuels the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction, the judges called “His Name Is George Floyd” an “intimate, riveting portrait of an ordinary man whose fatal encounter with police officers in 2020 sparked an international movement for social change, but whose humanity and complicated personal story were unknown.”
At the Atlantic, a July 8 release said of Salama (pictured), “Vivian will join The Atlantic from The Wall Street Journal, and has covered U.S. foreign policy and national security for more than two decades. . . . Her work is consistently defined by courage, originality, and exceptional versatility — with reporting that has taken her across America to cover presidential campaigns, into the Oval Office to question the commander in chief, and through passport checks in more than 85 countries.
“Youseff (pictured) is “a fearless and experienced reporter with a great knowledge of the Middle East. She was based in Baghdad during the Iraq War and later in Cairo, where she covered the broader Muslim world.”
At least 30 Post staffers in the news, opinion and video operations are said to have taken the buyouts, including some prominent journalists of color, including Krissah Thompson, a former managing editor who said in her farewell message that championing “His Name Is George Floyd” was one of the things of which she was most proud. Not all of those who left took the buyout. Columnist Joe Davidson, who resigned late last month, told Journal-isms, “I quit and got no money for doing so.”
Still, the Post announced Tuesday that Jamie Stockwell (pictured), “a seventh-generation South Texan of Mexican descent who was raised on the border,” “will join the leadership team of the News Hub as a Deputy Managing Editor, where she will help drive our digital news day and chart our next chapter as we look to deepen engagement with our audience.”
In his Status newsletter Wednesday, Oliver Darcy said of new Post Opinions editor Adam O’Neal:
“In any case, the wave of departures points to a deeper overhaul in motion at Washington’s paper of record, one that is less a matter of routine housekeeping and more of a complete reset where the slate is wiped entirely clean. Indeed, it’s become increasingly clear that O’Neal has encouraged the exits.
“The so-called voluntary separation program now looks, to many onlookers, not so voluntary. ‘It’s not really an exodus as much as it is a purge,’ one person familiar with the internal dynamics of the newspaper told me. Another staffer who accepted a buyout put it bluntly: ‘You don’t offer the entire section a buyout before naming the new editor if you actually want people to stay.’
“While O’Neal has been quietly making clear who he doesn’t see as part of the section’s future, he’s also been looking externally to build the one he does. I’m told he has been actively attempting to recruit from outside the paper, including from The Wall Street Journal, where he spent years as an editorial writer. To many Post staffers, it’s evident that O’Neal intends to install a new guard — one that is loyal to him and reflects his style— and that he has been granted broad latitude by leadership to remake the opinion section in his image.”
Short Takes
- “Dr. Mallika Marshall (pictured), an Emmy-award winning medical reporter for WBZ-TV for more than two decades” — and the daughter of pioneering television anchor Carole Simpson — “said she has been laid off by the station and her last day is Friday,“ Nick Stoico reported Wednesday for the Boston Globe. “Marshall, a specialist in internal medicine and pediatrics, has had a highly visible role since she joined CBS Boston in 2000 as the station’s HealthWatch Reporter. She has been a regular contributor on CBS’s national news programs, including CBS Mornings and the CBS Evening News, according to a biography on CBS News’ website. . . .”
- Carla Wills (pictured) is joining New York Public Radio as its community partnerships and training editor, the station announced Tuesday. “Carla brings more than 25 years of journalism experience to WNYC, spanning print, television, radio, podcasts, and digital media. Most recently, she served as manager of audio at National Geographic. . . .”
- “After nearly two and a half impactful years, my time as Managing Editor of The Chicago Defender has come to an end due to restructuring,” Tacuma Roeback (pictured) wrote Tuesday on LinkedIn.
“It’s been an honor to help lead one of the most storied Black newspapers in the country — to publish journalism that listened to the community and made space for voices too often pushed aside. . . .”
- “We must grapple with how the nation’s media policies and its media institutions have contributed to undermining the 14th Amendment rights of the Black community and other historically marginalized communities,” Joseph Torres of the media activist group Free Press wrote Friday under the headline, “Reckoning with the Federal Communications Commission’s history of structural racism.”
More than 100 aid agencies urged an end Wednesday to Israel’s starvation of journalists and other civilians in Gaza, the Committee to Protect Journalists said. The groups called on states to “save lives before there are none left to save. . . . Israel is starving Gazan journalists into silence. These are not just reporters, they are frontline witnesses, abandoned as international media were pulled out and denied entry,” said CPJ Regional Director Sara Qudah. “The world must act now: protect them, feed them, and allow them to recover while other journalists step in to help report. Our response to their courageous 650 plus-days of war reporting cannot simply be to let them starve to death.”
- “Since January, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has documented the murder of at least 13 journalists in Latin America,” the press freedom group said July 16. “This exceeds the nine cases recorded for the entire year of 2024, confirming an alarming increase in deadly violence against journalists. Community journalists who cover high-risk topics are particularly targeted, and Mexico remains the most dangerous country in the region for reporters. In response to this escalation, RSF calls on all Latin American governments to adopt and reinforce measures to protect journalists, and to end impunity for these heinous crimes.”
- “The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Liberian authorities to ensure justice for journalist Alex Seryea Yormie (pictured), who was abducted for several hours and brutalized by members of a local traditional society in northeastern Nimba county,” CPJ said Wednesday. “On June 30, the men abducted Yormie while he was on his way back to the community-based Lar-Wehyi radio station, shortly after he read on air a government order suspending activities of the Poro society, the journalist told CPJ.”
Correction: The column originally said that Toluse Olorunnipa had taken the Washington Post buyout. (Updated Aug. 2)
Krissah Thompson Leaving Washington Post
July 22, 2025
Thompson said, ” through it all, I’ve loved the people. The Post will always be home.’”
Surprise From Highest-Ranking Black Editor
- Update: WaPo pivots “third newsroom” to a more commercial venture (Sara Fischer, Axios)
Krissah Thompson, the Washington Post’s first and only managing editor for diversity who was subsequently chosen to lead the Post’s “Third Newsroom” initiative, is leaving the Post at the end of the month, Executive Editor Matt Murray announced to the Post staff Tuesday.
Thompson messaged Journal-isms, “”It’s a bittersweet transition, but one I’m embracing with gratitude. The buyout offers me the gift of time—to focus on my family at a key personal inflection point—and eventually relocate to Texas, a longtime goal.”
Thompson’s news follows Monday’s confirmation from associate editor Jonathan Capehart that he, too, is taking the buyout, and this from fellow Black opinion writer Perry Bacon Jr.:
Thompson said on LinkedIn: “Zora Neale Hurston wrote, ‘There are years that ask questions and years that answer.’ This is an answering year. I’m taking a break to focus on my family and reflect at a key personal inflection point. After some rest, I look forward to finding new ways to support journalists and the mission that brought me to this work in the first place.”
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Thompson’s departure became part of the campaign for president of the National Association of Black Journalists. At a campaign event at the National Press Club, presidential candidate Errin Haines of the 19th News criticized the current leadership for not issuing statements on Thompson’s service and that of NABJ co-founder Joe Davidson, both of whom are leaving the Post.
“NABJ used to say something,” Haines told the group of about 40 people, coupling that with claims of a lack of transparency. (Photo: Haines speaks at National Press Club. Credit: Richard Prince)
NABJ President Ken Lemon messaged Journal-isms Wednesday: “The vice president of print and I met with Founder Joe Davidson to discuss NABJ speaking out about his reasons for retirement from the Washington Post and how we acknowledge his legacy in journalism. As with every case of advocacy we consult with the member before taking action.
“We are looking into Krissah Thompson’s departure and how it affects our concerns with the Post.”
The third presidential candidate, Dion Rabouin, messaged Journal-isms, ” They’re ‘looking into it.’ If history is a guide, no one is looking into anything. NABJ has done zero follow-up after ‘looking into’ or ‘demanding answers’ from KTLA, MSNBC, WSJ (where they got the number of fellowships reduced after the company laid off every Black person on the masthead), CNN, ESPN, etc. This is an organization with $8 million in assets and over $2 million sitting in a checking account, but when Black folks vanish from newsrooms they ‘look into it’ and hold meetings and then nothing happens. It’s sad and it makes our organization look weak.” He referred to this campaign statement.
Lemon replied, “We have changed policy at KTLA, Tenga, and WSJ; we consulted with the journalists who were impacted first in each case. I have experience in advocacy with major media corporations that have produced change.
“I have also engaged in advocacy that led to changes at ABC, CBS, and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, twice at Nexstar and Tegna.
“My advocacy resulted in rewriting the policy for natural hair for Black women on air and supporting the authority of Black female managers.
“Voters should ask candidates about their prior experience in advocacy, not what they say, but what they have done.”
Murray’s note read, in part:
“Last summer, Krissah took on the job of planning and ultimately of launching WP Ventures, aka The Third Newsroom, alongside Sam Henig, a high-wire effort to define a new kind of news initiative. She dove in with a hunger to learn, a drive to innovate, enormous curiosity and, of course, leadership.
“Krissah has been a mentor, counselor, and gut-check to many people over the years, with an open office door and a sound moral compass. Soon after I arrived last year, I quickly understood that she is an unerring source of good advice and support, who is both committed to change that helps us grow and who manifests an abiding love for The Post.
“Robin Givhan, who sat next to Krissah in Style, notes that while her rise in the newsroom coincided with remarkable events in the country and challenging times in the industry, Krissah has always leaned into new opportunities to advance our mission.
” ‘In every capacity, Krissah has been full of warmth, calm, good humor and unwavering journalistic excellence,’ Robin writes. ‘She is respected and admired in this newsroom because she understands and believes in the best of The Washington Post….But Krissah is beloved by this newsroom because she has a deep sense of humanity. Her aim is always to see the individual behind the byline, to recognize each person’s unique skills and to draw them out–recognizing that a newsroom’s strength is in its diversity.’
“For her part, when asked what she is most proud of, Krissah says:
• “The work we’ve done to strengthen diversity and inclusion — from expanding our internship programs with Howard and UMD [University of Maryland], to building the Careers & Culture team, to championing pay transparency and peer-to-peer training. I was honored to help relaunch Professional Partners with Maynard [the Maynard Institute] and assist HR’s Director of DEIB [diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging] as she launched our employee resource groups.
• “The journalism: helping to launch Deep Reads, championing His Name Is George Floyd, and serving as a top editor for award-winning work in audio and across departments. I’ve worked with so many remarkable journalists — Robin Givhan, Ben Terris and so, so many others — and it’s been a joy to help their work shine.
• “And, of course, WP Ventures — it’s been energizing to help the company look toward the future. I’m proud that it’s one of the areas employees are most excited about, alongside AI.”
“She adds: ‘And through it all, I’ve loved the people. The Post will always be home.’ ”
On July 28, 2020, then-Executive Editor Martin Baron announced that Thompson would be the first Black woman to rise to managing editor, no longer a title given only to one person at a time.
The former Style section writer “will be in charge of ensuring significant, consistent progress on diversity and inclusiveness in everything we do – our coverage of race, ethnicity and identity as well as improved recruitment, retention and career advancement for journalists of color,” Baron said in his 2020 statement. “She will have the strong backing of the newsroom’s senior leadership in that highest-priority effort. She will require the support of everyone.”
The next year, new Executive Editor Sally Buzbee gave Thompson added responsibility for climate and environmental coverage, features reporting and recruitment
In December, Murray, who has consistently praised Thompson, announced that she would become editor of WP Ventures, whose “goal is to explore how The Washington Post can effectively grow our reach, revenue and relevance with new audiences in a rapidly changing media landscape. A particular focus has been expanding our presence on social media and creating new commercial opportunities for consumer and lifestyle journalism, while accelerating innovation and cross-company collaboration.”
Washington Post: Carla Broyles named Deputy Head of Print
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Short Takes: Richard Prince and DEI; Asian American Journalists Association and diversity;Voting Rights Act project; for people who are angry but feel powerless; ruling backs journalists covering protests; David Cho; LaFontaine Oliver; saving Black-owned bookstore; Grist and Indigenous Journalists Association; John Warren and NNPA; Joy Reid; Shannon Sharpe; Rachel Scott; Javier E. David; Elaine Ayala; Javier C. Hernández; critical situation in Honduras.
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