Three interesting, naval-gazing pieces this morning on the political media: First, Rupert Murdoch has chosen Robert Thomson, an actual veteran reporter-editor, to head the Wall Street Journal. Thomson most recently served as the Journal's a publisher and previously was an editor at News Corp.'s Times of London and at the Financial Times. He is expected to preside over an expansion of the Journal's political coverage.
Secondly, though top Washington Post editor Leonard Downie, Jr. hasn't (yet) accepted his buy-out offer, Post publisher Katharine Weymouth hasn't made a secret of her desire to replace him. Slate's Jack Shafer has some provocative suggestions for who the next editor should be. One of the Politico founders, for example, would be a sensible choice, as they were bred at the Post, yet understand the Web oh-so-much better. New York editor-in-chief Adam Moss, however, makes little sense. It's hard to imagine Moss' glossy sensibility jiving with the starchy Beltway ethic, and I doubt he'd be very happy in D.C.
Lastly, Huffington Post has hired Hilary Rosen, former head of the Recording Industry Association of America (the folks who sue you for downloading "Toxic"), as D.C.-based "political director." Huh? She has no journalism experience.
--Dana Goldstein
