The Washington Post’s public scramble for a new executive editor has provided another headache for Jeff Bezos’ golden boy, embattled publisher and CEO Will Lewis, according to reports.
Lewis was handpicked by the Amazon founder and WaPo owner in January to push back against declining revenue and readership. His tenure has been beset by problems and reports of unethical journalism and internal turmoil.
![WASHINGTON, DC -NOVEMBER 06: William Lewis, the new CEO and Publisher of the Washington Post Company speaks to the staff and employees at the headquarters in Washington, DC on November 06, 2023. (Photo by Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post via Getty Images)](https://www.thedailybeast.com/resizer/v2/K7VJRCP5URF3PCZGVG6PJCW4GA.jpg?auth=ba7bb57f7f464e63eafe40d5f18f1079739a25dac80a927bf7d7ff30db2919e2&width=800&height=533)
And the reportedly unpopular Lewis’ search for a new head of the newsroom is similarly fraught, according to Axios. The title reports that Cliff Levy of The New York Times and Meta’s Anne Kornblut, a former Post editor, both said no to taking the top job over concerns about the paper’s strategy.
Lewis’ pitch for its future was “foggy and uninspiring,” an insider told Axios. Levy hit the brakes on any move last week while Kornblut, Meta’s VP of global product content operations, went cold in September.
She had been Washington Post reporter and editor for eight years previously. The reporters’ pick seemed to be Matea Gold, but she announced just last week that she’s off to The New York Times as Washington editor.
![WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 3: Matt Murray, named as a new top editor of The Washington Post via Getty Images, pledged Monday to lead a new era of innovation during a staff meeting Monday, June 3, 2024. The meeting that turned contentious when employees peppered publisher and CEO William Lewis with questions about the abrupt replacement of executive editor Sally Buzbee.
(Photo by Robert Miller/The Washington Post via Getty Images)](https://www.thedailybeast.com/resizer/v2/EJK62AQCE5B3TIKB4VK5ABQNDA.jpg?auth=65699fd78d55944fe434dcd8146328fd62c3e8790cba84dfad5e4b1c8c12b31f&width=800&height=565)
Former Washington Post managing editors Kevin Merida and Steven Ginsberg both said no to approaches in another headache for Lewis, Axios revealed. Merida is a free agent after leaving the L.A. Times earlier this year, while Ginsberg is executive editor of The Athletic.
Axios reported that the sorry search for a new chief has contributed to a demoralized staff, while labor unions have been invigorated—this makes Lewis’ challenge even greater.
The title added that a rumor inside the Post newsroom is that it could see a staff exodus to The Atlantic and The New York Times.
Sources told them that the lack of clear vision for the future is genuinely concerning. “I’m not sure it’s salvageable,” one said.
His most public embarrassment came when the man who was due to become the new editor “decided” that maybe it was not such a great idea.
![Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos.](https://www.thedailybeast.com/resizer/v2/MY7FIQTIYBBGXKQXGN3YB6RVVA.jpg?auth=099ea9cba6a6201c9fbcbb357f32fadfd03e8b5abca26c4f3fef04e3692dfefb&width=800&height=533)
“It is with regret that I share with you that Robert Winnett has withdrawn from the position of Editor at The Washington Post,” Lewis told staffers in an email obtained by the Daily Beast in June, after courting the Telegraph man.
Lewis’ announcement came nearly an hour after the Telegraph told its staff that Winnett, whose appointment to the top Post editorial job led to a firestorm of controversy, had chosen to stick around at his old paper.
Lewis—who will also soon find himself at the center of a phone-hacking case brought by Prince Harry—said the Post would “immediately” launch a head-hunting mission to find a new executive editor for the core newsroom, including the use of a recruiting firm.
Now, it looks like stand-in executive editor Matt Murray will continue to lead the Post, but for how long?