It's already been a tough new year for The Washington Post. A years-long identity crisis and financial woes continue to plague the Jeff Bezos-owned newspaper ahead of Trump's second term in office.
Tensions and cash pressures at newsrooms run deep, but Bezos' appointment of Will Lewis as publisher and CEO of the Post has taken matters to new heights.
Lewis, tasked with revitalizing the paper's dilapidated business model, had a few choice words for staff at a June 2024 meeting following the firing of editor-in-chief Sally Buzbee.
“We're losing a lot of money. Our audience has been cut in half in recent years. People aren't reading your stories…We can't keep up the surface anymore,” Lewis said at the time.
Fast forward to 2025, and Lewis has become estranged from the newsroom.
“The company feels like it's in limbo right now,” one staffer told FOX News Digital.
“Will Lewis has basically disappeared since last year's infamous 'No one reads your articles' meeting. He has not appointed a permanent editor-in-chief and has not yet decided if he has a business plan. However, this is not communicated publicly or to anyone, except for the fact that [Puck reporter] Dylan Byers…It's not clear when or in what direction the company will go. ”
The staffer was furious, speculating that Lewis was the source of coverage for the Pack's Dylan Byers, telling Fox News Digital, “Apparently Lewis likes to communicate that way with his staff. ” he said.
“Over the past six months, and maybe more, I've only heard one strange passive-aggressive email from Will Lewis announcing his obligation to return to office after the election,” the staffer said.
Last summer, Mr. Lewis appointed former Wall Street Journal editor-in-chief Matt Murray as acting editor until Mr. Buzbee's replacement could be found.
However, after a thorough search, no one was found to fill the position, and Lewis has appointed Murray as the new executive editor, according to Byers' recent report.
Mr. Lewis' outspoken comments may have irritated his staff, but Mr. Bezos' decision to end the Post's endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris just days before the election has left the newsroom as well as its readers with no choice. It caused a severe blaze.
The newspaper was already on pace to incur a staggering $77 million loss by the end of the year, not including the whopping 250,000 people who reportedly canceled their subscriptions as a result of their non-support. Not yet.
Many critics inside and outside the paper interpreted Bezos' decision as an appeasement of then-candidate and now President-elect Donald Trump.
Paul Farhi, a former Washington Post media reporter who left the company in 2023 following a major company-wide acquisition, called Bezos' move “the most disastrous” business decision in the paper's history.
“Of course morale is very low,” Farhi told FOX News Digital. “If newspaper management had done all the right things, things wouldn't have been so good.
However, it struck me that in response to the broader economic downturn, they took a series of terrible actions that made the situation even worse. ”
Current staff say they remain wary of the exodus of personnel in recent weeks, who have “not shown any efforts to stop the bleeding.”
The non-support led to the resignation of editor-in-chief Robert Kagan and several editorial board members.
In the weeks since then, reporters Josh Dorsey, Ashley Parker, Michael Scherer, Tyler Page, LeeAnne Caldwell, columnist Charles Lane, veteran editor Mattea Gold, and several others have joined. A prominent staff member has announced his retirement to another media outlet.
Fox News Digital also learned that Stephen Smith, the Post's health science editor, is leaving the New York Times.
Farhi called his resignation a “vote of no confidence” in publisher Will Lewis.
“This resignation reflects a vote of no confidence in him and the paper's management,” he said.
“As you know, politics is not the only thing that The Washington Post does, but it is an important part of the franchise. When you lose someone, it really lowers morale and really weakens the whole company. Will they find someone again? That's the big question. .”
Also potentially accelerating the departure is an ideological battle that appears to be taking shape within the Post. Ben Smith in Semaphore I wrote recentlymany employees were “sold in” to the idea that the Post's mission was to be a “#Resistance Newspaper.”
However, Bezos himself cited the paper's reforms in an op-ed defending his decision to endorse.
“Most people believe that the media is biased. Those who don't understand this are paying little attention to reality, and those who fight reality lose,” the Amazon founder said in October. I wrote it.
“Reality is the undefeated champion. It's easy to blame others for the long-lasting decline in trust (and therefore influence), but victimhood doesn't help. Complaining is not a strategy. . We need to work harder to control what we can control to improve our credibility.”
Bezos, like several Silicon Valley billionaires, has extended an olive branch to President-elect Trump since his victory.
Bezos met with him at Mar-a-Lago last month and donated $1 million to his startup fund. Amazon Prime announced this week that it will produce an “unprecedented behind-the-scenes” documentary about first lady Melania Trump that will be released worldwide in both theaters and streaming.
The Post's Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Anne Ternas mocked Bezos in a cartoon her editors refused to publish, depicting Bezos and others crouching at Trump's feet. She resigned in protest last week.
The Washington Post's in-house media critic, Eric Wemple, opposed the new policies introduced by Murray and, when asked about the lack of coverage of Ternas' resignation, said the paper should not be reporting on it itself. Ta.
“I cannot disagree more strongly with that policy.” wemple responded on Monday.
“The Post's aggressive reporting of its own missteps and scandals over the years has differentiated it from many news organizations that refuse to hold themselves to the same rules as politicians, CEOs, and professional athletes. That's something I believe our subscribers appreciate.”
Adding to the recent newsroom drama, The Washington Post this week implemented layoffs that affected about 4% of the company's business, while exempting journalists.
Despite their personal disappointment with the paper's current state, both posties told Fox News Digital they have no plans to quit.
One person said, “I want to get through it.'' “I love my company and I love the people I work with.”
The employee urged Lewis to “treat employees like adults.”
“Hire a talented and inspiring editor-in-chief who will tell us his vision for the company, explain his path for us to get there, and get us there. Get to work, stop making your company obsolete, and stop the talent drain,” they said.
One former employee has slammed the “self-inflicted” damage inflicted by his once beloved employer.
“It's very sad to see everything that was built being demolished so quickly,” said the veteran former posti.
A former staffer named Mr. Lewis and Mr. Murray, claiming that “neither of them behaved” toward Mr. Bezos. They scoffed at Mr. Murray's new policy about Post reporters not covering the company, and predicted the policy would soon extend to not covering Amazon either.
“It's truly tragic,” they said.
The Washington Post did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
Fox News' David Rutz contributed to this report.
