Washington Post publisher resigns
The Washington Post's publisher, Will Lewis, resigned days after a large round of newsroom layoffs that sources say 'gutted' the newsroom. The report frames the resignation as directly following staff cuts and has prompted broader industry concern about retrenchment in major news organisations. (nationaltoday.com)
Will Lewis resigned as publisher and chief executive of The Washington Post on February 7, three days after the paper cut about one-third of its staff. (pbs.org) Lewis told employees in a two-paragraph email that, after “two years of transformation,” it was “the right time for me to step aside.” The Post named chief financial officer Jeff D’Onofrio acting publisher and chief executive, effective immediately. (cnbc.com) The layoffs were announced on February 4 and eliminated more than 300 jobs, including much of the sports, books and podcast operations. Reuters reported that the cuts affected all departments as the Bezos-owned paper tried to reduce losses and reshape coverage. (cnbc.com) The Post is not a niche outlet. It is the capital’s dominant newspaper, a national political institution, and one of the country’s best-known investigative newsrooms. (nprillinois.org) The cuts landed after years of financial strain. Bloomberg reported that management told employees the paper was closing its sports department, shutting the books section and the “Post Reports” podcast, and merging print and digital editing as it tried to restore profitability. (bloomberg.com) Lewis had been brought in by owner Jeff Bezos to reverse those business problems. The Post announced in November 2023 that Lewis, the former Dow Jones chief executive, would start as publisher and chief executive on January 2, 2024. (axios.com) His tenure was turbulent well before this month’s cuts. In June 2024, National Public Radio reported that Lewis had tried to stop coverage of allegations tied to his past role in the British phone-hacking scandal, adding to internal turmoil after a leadership shake-up. (opb.org) The February layoffs also drew criticism over how they were handled. Associated Press reported that neither Lewis nor Bezos took part in the staff meeting announcing the cuts, even as Lewis defended the “difficult decisions” in his resignation note days later. (abcnews.com) For now, the paper is back under interim leadership, with D’Onofrio running the business after a week that cut hundreds of jobs and ended Lewis’s short tenure. (axios.com)
