Longtime Washington Post columnist and editor Charles Lane will leave the paper to join the independent news site Free Press (FP), FP Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss announced Friday. did.
Lane's departure follows recent changes in the editorial staff at the Jeff Bezos-owned Post, another traditionalist who has found a secure home in the growing independent media space. He will become a defector from the news media.
“For most of the past decade, he contributed a weekly column characterized by independence, intellectual integrity, and breadth of scope—exactly the qualities we look for in the Free Press. , which is also why we know Chuck is the perfect fit,” Weiss wrote on Twitter.
We are thrilled to announce that Charles Lane will be joining the Free Press as deputy editor, effective January 6th.
Chuck comes to us from The Washington Post, where he held various positions on both the news and editorial sides of the paper, most recently as opinion deputy…
— Bari Weiss (@bariweiss) December 13, 2024
Lane's resignation from the Post comes after a tumult that saw several senior staff members resign after the paper's editorial board chose not to endorse a candidate in the 2024 presidential election. Many readers canceled their subscriptions. (Related: Trump's media strategy is a game-changer for the future of politics)
Meanwhile, FP added Mr. Lane to its roster, further cementing its reputation for attracting former mainstream journalists from The Post, The New York Times, Politico, Vanity Fair and others.
Founded by Weiss, a former New York Times opinion writer, FP is part of a growing number of digital news platforms founded in defiance of traditional media norms. inside her resignation letterWeiss criticized the New York Times' actions after the 2016 election.
“There are terms for all of these things: unlawful discrimination, hostile work environment, constructive dismissal. I'm no legal expert, but I know this is wrong. Everyone at the paper “I don't understand how anyone would allow this kind of behavior to take place in their company while the public was watching,” she wrote.
Weiss and FP are leading a growing movement of independent media ventures, including “Breaking Point,” a podcast and YouTube show produced by former Daily Caller White House correspondent Sagar Enjeti and former MSNBC anchor Crystal Ball. Participating in
Independent journalists who cultivate ideologically diverse audiences are increasingly finding success outside the constraints of traditional news organizations. Ken Klippenstein, a former reporter for the progressive media outlet The Intercept, recently celebrated reaching his 100,000th subscriber on his Substack account. Subscribers pay $10 a month for his journalism and commentary.
Although The Intercept isn't on the same level as traditional stations like CNN or MSNBC, Krippenstein's success highlights a growing shift in the way viewers consume news.
LFG!!!People are tired of corporate media gatekeepers pic.twitter.com/KAUw6d6U2j
— Ken Klippenstein (@kenklippenstein) December 11, 2024
“I never truly hated the mainstream media. I was more indifferent, but I used CNN and the NYT for information,” a subscriber recently told Klippenstein. “But seeing the lack of journalistic integrity and off-topic comments about the UHC situation is
Honestly, it's a whole new level of frustration. I appreciate that you are a people's man and don't hide anything from the public to push the narrative forward. ”
— Ken Klippenstein (@kenklippenstein) December 12, 2024
