(FT, 20 June 2024) Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos has made his first public comments since a leadership crisis shook the newspaper, telling senior staff that its business practices needed to change but its journalistic standards would remain high.
The billionaire founder of Amazon issued a memo on 18th June in response to a growing backlash against Sir Will Lewis, the chief executive he picked to turn around the loss making US title.
“It can’t be business as usual at the Post. The world is evolving rapidly and we do need to change as a business,” wrote Bezos, who acquired the title for $250 million a decade ago.
“You also know our standards at the Post have always been very high. That can’t change — and it won’t,” he wrote. “You have my full commitment on maintaining the quality, ethics, and standards we all believe in.”
The memo amounted to an effort to quell rising opposition to Lewis and one of two new editors he picked to run its newsroom, who have been dogged by allegations of questionable ethical practices dating to their days in the cut-throat world of British journalism. It also appeared intended to signal Bezos’s support for Lewis, who was copied in on the email.
The Post enjoyed a renaissance during the rise of Donald Trump, adding millions of subscribers. But it has struggled to maintain momentum, losing half of its audience since the 2020 election and posted a $77 million loss last year.
The Post’s newsroom has revolted against Lewis, a British former Rupert Murdoch wingman that Bezos appointed as publisher last year. A former FT journalist, Lewis served as chief executive of Dow Jones and publisher of WSJ from 2014 to 2020, a period of revenue and readership growth for the organisation.
This month, Lewis replaced executive editor Sally Buzbee with his former colleagues, sparking a crisis in confidence over his leadership. Media groups have been delving into Lewis’ involvement in the Murdoch phone hacking scandal that shook the UK more than a decade ago and led to closure of News of the World.
The Post on Sunday published an investigation into Lewis and Robert Winnett, his chosen incoming editor, and has appointed former senior editor Cameron Barr to oversee coverage of Lewis. “We cover the Washington Post independently, rigorously and fairly. The publisher has no involvement in or influence on our reporting,” a representative said in a statement.