Susan Glasser Gone

Susan Glasser, Washington Post national news boss, has been removed from the job, according to many newsroom sources. Official word from the Post is imminent, they report.

Glasser returned to the newsroom yesterday from some time off and was ushered into a series of meetings with Executive Editor Len Downie and Managing Editor Phil Bennett. The participants emerged from the meeting wearing stone faces.

“Nothing pleasant was going on behind those doors,” said one reporter.

Glasser was in the newsroom this morning as news of her reassignment rambled through the Post’s fifth floor.

Glasser was a powerful shooting star at the Post and also a major irritant to many reporters and editors. She was known to have ruffled feathers as she reassigned longtime reporters, and her management skills were harsh, according to many Posties.

The Post went so far as to appoint a “commission” chaired by human resources editor Tom Wilkinson. Veteran newsman Robert Kaiser and editor Peter Perl were on the panel, which became known as the Kaiser Commission. Wilkinson interviewed many national desk reporters and editors about Glasser’s management style.

It is unclear whether Glasser, 39, will remain at the Post. It has been rumored that her husband, Peter Baker, who currently covers the White House for the Post, might be moving to the New York Times.

Glasser came to the Post from Roll Call. She edited coverage of the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal, corresponded from Moscow with Baker, returned to the Post to edit Outlook, then moved to assistant managing editor for national news, perhaps the most important editing job at the paper.

Neither Glasser nor Baker would respond to e-mails.

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Harry Jaffe