By grade six he was the paper’s editor-in-chief. There he wrote his first story for the school paper about what it was like for students to switch rooms each semester. I was happy to offer whatever help I could but Len Downie surely did not appreciate my being designated to assist him. * Please keep in mind that all text is machine-generated, we do not bear any responsibility, and you should always get advice from professionals before taking any actions. The origins of Leonard Downie Jr.’s storied journalism career began all the way back in the fifth grade at Landon Elementary in Cleveland, Ohio. Listen to Downie speak About Post's decision, just before the presidential election of 1996, not to publish information about Senator Robert Dole's personal life. Our goal this semester expose the students to all of the journalism models that Len Downie and Michael Schudson outline as potential replacements for a decline in public affairs reporting at newspapers. Under Downies leadership, paper won 25 Pulitzer Prizes, including three Pulitzer gold medals for public service. In 1984, he was named Managing Editor of Washington Post, position he held until 1991, when he was named Executive Editor. Downie also served as the Post's London correspondent before becoming National Editor in 1982. In 1974, when he was Assistant Managing Editor for Metropolitan News, Downie oversaw paper's Watergate coverage. He soon became a prize-winning Investigative reporter on paper Metro desk. How much it concerns me is the question of how we organize ourselves in terms of presenting the news we gather to people and the best ways to reach them. is vice president at large and former executive editor of The Washington Post and Weil Family Professor of Journalism at Arizona State Universitys Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. He worked in the Post newsroom for 44 years as Executive Editor, Managing Editor, National Editor, London correspondent, Assistant Managing Editor for Metropolitan News, Deputy Metropolitan Editor, and as an award winning investigative and local reporter. Downie has spent his entire journalistic career at paper, where he started as a summer intern reporter in 1965. and Michael Schudson are the authors of 'The Reconstruction of American Journalism.' Leonard Downie Jr. (born May 1, 1942), the American journalist, was Executive Editor of The Washington Post from 1991-2008.