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The Way We Were: Ryan & Allbritton

The personal and nearly litigious backstory behind one of the most complicated political relationships in Washington media—the bond between Fred Ryan and Robert Allbritton.

A recent New Yorker profile has inadvertenly unearthed tensions between WaPo publisher Fred Ryan and Politico’s former owner Robert Allbritton.
A recent New Yorker profile has inadvertenly unearthed tensions between WaPo publisher Fred Ryan and Politico’s former owner Robert Allbritton. Photo-illustration: Puck / Photos: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images & Brad Barket/Getty Images for Politico
Dylan Byers
January 27, 2023

“Damnit, Fred, I’m trying to help you,” Robert Allbritton told me on Thursday, laughing. The Washington heir and longtime media proprietor was reacting to a New Yorker article published earlier that day about Fred Ryan, the Washington Post publisher and C.E.O. who, after a decade of presiding over record growth, is now bearing the blame for the paper’s well-documented malaise.