UK editor backs out of top Washington Post job after US scrutiny of his past

Winnett had been hired to join the Washington Post by his old colleague Will Lewis. Photograph: Pablo Martínez Monsiváis/AP

The British journalist hired to lead the Washington Post’s newsroom has backed out of the job after the US newspaper’s own reporters began digging into his past.

Rob Winnett, the deputy editor of the Daily Telegraph, had been due to take over the Washington Post newsroom in the autumn.