Last week I was officially named the new editor of The Washingtonian, where I’ve worked now for just about four years, becoming just the 3rd editor in the 44-year history of the magazine. I’m tremendously excited about the opportunity and the promotion. It’s always been a dream of mine, yet one that I thought would be years down the road. Jack Limpert, who as the Examiner explained is “a living institution at one of America’s most successful city glossies,” is stepping down to my old title (editor at large) and will continue to be involved on a daily basis; I’m particularly happy that I’m going to be able to work with him as I learn how to do all that the new position entails.
There was a fair amount of pretty amusing media coverage of the announcement, most of focusing on the handover of the magazine from a 75-year-old longtime magazine legend to a 28-year-old new media newbie. Here are some of the choice excerpts:
The Washington Post called me a “hotshot” in their write-up; Portfolio headlined “And a Child Shall Edit Them,” noting that Jack’s been editor “12 years longer than his replacement has been alive”; and the Washington Examiner noted that I was “a 28-year-old former blogger who has been with the magazine for one-tenth of Limpert’s tenure.”
Gawker’s post made me laugh: “Young Garrett Graff, who started at Fishbowl DC at the age of like 15 (ROUGH ESTIMATE) and then got a job at Washingtonian, is now the new editor of Washingtonian. He is an up and coming whippersnapper if we have ever seen one. Don’t end up a cabinet member recommending foreign wars based on vague Georgetown cocktail party gossip ten years from now, Garrett. That’s how they get you.”
Perhaps my favorite commentary on the incident was the mean-spirited back-and-forth on the Washington Post’s story, including this one: “Ben Bradlee he ain’t.”
Anyway, I’m quite excited. As I told my hometown newspaper, The Times Argus, for their story: “Becoming editor, I’m not sure there is a better job in Washington, except for maybe President of the United States.”
Recent Comments