Roger Yu

USA TODAY

In the first major management change by new owner Jeff Bezos, The Washington Post announced Tuesday that CEO and Publisher Katharine Weymouth will step down on Oct. 1.

Weymouth, a granddaughter of long-time Post publisher Katharine Graham, will be replaced by Fred Ryan, who worked for former president Ronald Reagan and helped found news site Politico.

Weymouth's departure after 17 years marks the end of her family's ties with the newspaper her great-grandfather, Eugene Meyer, bought in 1933. The family sold the paper to Amazon founder Bezos for $250 million last year, and the billionaire said at the time that Weymouth was staying on to ensure leadership continuity.

"The greatest honor of my life has been serving as publisher of The Post these past seven years, working with all of you," Weymouth said in a statement to the staff. "This is just the beginning of a wonderful new chapter for The Post."

Bezos wrote: "I am so grateful to Katharine for agreeing to stay on as Publisher this past year. She has successfully led many new initiatives and assured that the first ownership change of this great institution in eighty years has been done smoothly and without skipping a beat."

After he bought the paper, Bezos told staffers that he planned to invest more in newsroom resources, hire more reporters and introduce new editorial products, a welcome announcement to staffers who had endured years of downsizing and sinking revenue.

Weymouth told USA TODAY in April that the newsroom was "excited" by Bezos' commitment and relying primarily on digital initiatives for growth. The newspaper has redesigned its website and stepped up experiments in content distribution online by launching new blogs with a heavy emphasis on national and international content.

In an interview, Ryan declined to reveal specifics about how Bezos came to tap him as Weymouth's replacement. But Ryan said he has known Bezos "for some time" and has had "many conversations about the exciting future in digital media and opportunities for innovation," he said.

He said it is too early to reveal his vision for the newspaper, given that he still has to learn more about its operations, but the current "growth strategy" implemented after Bezos' acquisition will continue, he said. "The results are paying off. This media landscape is changing at lightning speed. I think the best approach there is (is) to innovate and experiment and ultimately focus on the experience of readers," he said.

Ryan, 59, currently is chairman of the board of trustees of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Library. He left his job last year as CEO of Politico and president of Politico's parent company, Allbritton Communications, after Allbritton sold its TV business to Sinclair Broadcast Group.

Ryan is an attorney by training and served as chief of staff for Reagan after he left office in 1989. According to the Reagan foundation website, Ryan worked in the White House from 1982 to 1989 and was "one of the youngest" staffers to be named assistant to the president of the United States. He received his bachelor's and law degrees from the University of Southern California.

Ryan said he has no plans to change the newspaper's newsroom leadership, calling Executive Editor Martin Baron "a major contributor to the success."

"I think he has done a superb job. I don't know a better executive editor in the country," he said.

Still, Ryan's introduction as publisher of the newspaper, long a target of conservative media critics, will stir questions about how his — and Bezos' — politics will affect the editorial page.

While Bezos has donated to an effort in the state of Washington to legalize gay marriage, he has been quiet about his political views and, like many CEOs, has contributed money to both Democratic and Republican candidates.

"The Washington Post is not an ideological organization," Ryan said. "I think that (Editorial Page Editor) Fred Hiatt and his team do a superb job. And it's a very important part of the organization, and my intention is to support and encourage them to keep doing what they're doing."

While the paper's emphasis is clearly on digital platforms, Ryan said he doesn't envision the print product discontinuing. "Although I go to many websites, I start the day with the print paper of The Washington Post."