Washington Post, change at the top. The CEO leaves after cuts and controversies

The Washington Post announced that the ceo and editorial director Will Lewis will be leaving with immediate effecta few days after the famous newspaper owned by the billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has carried out drastic measures staff cuts which infuriated readers.

Although all newspapers in the United States faced tough challenges in the industry, Lewis’ management of the paper was tough criticized by subscribers and employees during his two-year tenure, as the CEO sought to reverse the newspaper’s losses.

The handover announced to the staff

Lewis was replaced by Jeff D’Onofrioformer CEO of social media platform Tumblr, joined the Post as chief financial officer last year. In an email to staff shared on social media by one of the newspaper’s journalists, Lewis said: “The time is right for me to step aside.” A Post statement said only that D’Onofrio will succeed Lewis “effective immediately.”

Editorial teams decimated after the announced cuts

Hundreds of Post journalists, including most of its foreign, local and sports staff, have been laid off following sweeping cuts announced Tuesday. The Post did not disclose the number of positions eliminated, but the New York Times reported that about 300 of its 800 journalists were laid off.

An unprecedented renovation

The entire staff of the newspaper in Middle East was taken out, as was the Ukrainian correspondent based in Kiev. The newspaper’s sports, graphics and local news departments have been drastically downsized and the paper’s daily podcast, Post Reports, has been suspended, local media reported. Hundreds of people protested outside the newspaper’s headquarters in downtown Washington on Thursday.

The Harris case and Jeff Bezos’ intervention

In Lewis’ memo to staff, shared on impartial news of high quality for many years to come.” Bezos and Lewis have been at the center of controversy for having intervened directly in the newspaper’s editorial processes.

Jeff Bezos blocked the publication of the endorsement of Democratic candidate Kamala Harris a few days before the 2024 presidential elections, breaking the so-called ‘wall of independence’ between ownership and editorial staff.

Flight of subscribers and losses of millions

The decision was read as a ‘bow’ towards Donald Trump causing an internal crisis and a massive drop in subscriptions. Last month the Wall Street Journal reported that 250,000 digital subscribers had left the Post after it failed to support Harris, and the newspaper reported lost about 100 million dollars in 2024 due to declining advertising and subscription revenues. Marty Baron, the Post’s executive editor until 2021, said the layoffs were “among the darkest days in the history of one of the world’s largest news organizations.”