AP

Washington Post editorial page editor Fred Hiatt dead at 66

Dec 6, 2021, 5:01 PM | Updated: 5:11 pm

WASHINGTON (AP) — Fred Hiatt, a foreign correspondent who rose in 2000 to become The Washington Post’s editorial page editor, died Monday at a hospital in New York City. He was 66.

According to the Post, his wife, Margaret “Pooh” Shapiro, said Hiatt had cardiac arrest while visiting his daughter in Brooklyn, N.Y., on Nov. 24 and did not regain consciousness.

The Post said for two decades, Hiatt either wrote or edited nearly every unsigned editorial published by the newspaper — more than 1,000 a year. He also edited the opinion columns published on the paper’s op-ed page and website.

“Over the past two decades, Fred’s leadership made The Post’s editorial page into the most consequential in the news industry,” the newspaper quoted Washington Post publisher and chief executive Frederick J. Ryan Jr. as saying in a statement to the staff. “A 40-year veteran of The Post, he built friendships throughout the company and made immense contributions as a writer, an editor, and a mentor to so many across the organization. His legacy also spans the globe: Few journalists have rivaled his idealism and complete dedication to the causes of democracy and human rights worldwide.”

Hiatt was a Post reporter for 15 years covering regional politics and national security and was a correspondent in Tokyo and Moscow before joining the editorial page in 1996. Four years later, he took over the editorial page.

Under his leadership, Hiatt worked to maintain The Post’s traditional editorial positions including support for civil rights, fiscal responsibility and international human rights. He oversaw Post editorials that called on China to allow dissent and to free its political prisoners, and advocated for abortion rights and campaign finance reform.

His tenure wasn’t without controversy.

On Sept. 11, 2001, he and his deputy, Jackson Diehl, responded to the terrorist attacks on the Pentagon and New York’s World Trade Center with an editorial that analogized them to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, which precipitated the U.S. entering World War II. Detractors would later criticize Hiatt for helping lead the march to war in Iraq.

Hiatt had an eye for cultivating editorial talent and built out a team in an internet age that produced some of the website’s most-read articles. According to the paper, three columnists won the Pulitzer for commentary under Hiatt’s guidance: Colbert I. King in 2003, Eugene Robinson in 2009 and Kathleen Parker in 2010. Hiatt himself was a three-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in editorial writing.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

AP

Lead water pipes pulled from underneath the street are seen in Newark, N.J., Oct. 21, 2021. (AP Pho...

Associated Press

Biden to require cities to replace harmful lead pipes within 10 years

The Biden administration has previously said it wants all of the nation's roughly 9 million lead pipes to be removed, and rapidly.

4 days ago

Facebook's Meta logo sign is seen at the company headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif., on, Oct. 28, 2...

Associated Press

Meta shuts down thousands of fake Facebook accounts that were primed to polarize voters ahead of 2024

Meta said it removed 4789 Facebook accounts in China that targeted the United States before next year’s election.

4 days ago

A demonstrator in Tel Aviv holds a sign calling for a cease-fire in the Hamas-Israel war on Nov. 21...

Associated Press

Hamas releases a third group of hostages as part of truce, and says it will seek to extend the deal

The fragile cease-fire between Israel and Hamas was back on track Sunday as the first American was released under a four-day truce.

9 days ago

Men look over the site of a deadly explosion at Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City, Wednesday, Oct. 18, ...

Associated Press

New AP analysis of last month’s deadly Gaza hospital explosion rules out widely cited video

The Associated Press is publishing an updated visual analysis of the deadly Oct. 17 explosion at Gaza's Al-Ahli Hospital.

12 days ago

Peggy Simpson holds a photograph of law enforcement carrying Lee Harvey Oswald's gun through a hall...

Associated Press

JFK assassination remembered 60 years later by surviving witnesses to history, including AP reporter

Peggy Simpson is among the last surviving witnesses who are sharing their stories as the nation marks the 60th anniversary.

12 days ago

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, chairs the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, Sunday, ...

Associated Press

Israeli Cabinet approves cease-fire with Hamas; deal includes release of 50 hostages

Israel’s Cabinet on Wednesday approved a cease-fire deal with the Hamas militant group that would bring a temporary halt to a devastating war.

13 days ago

Sponsored Articles

Follow @KTAR923...

Valley residents should be mindful of plumbing ahead of holidays

With Halloween in the rear-view and more holidays coming up, Day & Night recommends that Valley residents prepare accordingly.

...

Midwestern University

Midwestern University: innovating Arizona health care education

Midwestern University’s Glendale Campus near Loop 101 and 59th Avenue is an established leader in health care education and one of Arizona’s largest and most valuable health care resources.

...

SCHWARTZ LASER EYE CENTER

Key dates for Arizona sports fans to look forward to this fall

Fall brings new beginnings in different ways for Arizona’s professional sports teams like the Cardinals and Coyotes.

Washington Post editorial page editor Fred Hiatt dead at 66