Washington Submit writer Will Lewis says he is stepping down
Washington Submit writer Will Lewis mentioned Saturday that he’s stepping down, ending a troubled tenure three days after the newspaper mentioned that it was shedding one-third of its employees.Lewis introduced his departure in a two-paragraph e mail to the newspaper’s employees, saying that after two years of transformation, “now’s the best time for me to step apart.” The Submit’s chief monetary officer, Jeff D’Onofrio, was appointed momentary writer.Neither Lewis nor the newspaper’s billionaire proprietor Jeff Bezos participated within the assembly with employees members saying the layoffs on Wednesday. Whereas anticipated, the cutbacks had been deeper than anticipated, ensuing within the shutdown of the Submit’s famend sports activities part, the elimination of its pictures employees and sharp reductions in personnel liable for protection of metropolitan Washington and abroad.They got here on prime of widespread expertise defections in recent times on the newspaper, which misplaced tens of hundreds of subscribers following Bezos’ order late within the 2024 presidential marketing campaign pulling again from a deliberate endorsement of Kamala Harris, and a subsequent reorienting of its opinion part in a extra conservative route.Martin Baron, the Submit’s first editor below Bezos, condemned his former boss this week for trying to curry favor with President Donald Trump and referred to as what has occurred on the newspaper “a case research in near-instant, self-inflicted model destruction.”The British-born Lewis was a former prime govt at The Wall Road Journal earlier than taking up at The Submit in January 2024. His tenure has been rocky from the beginning, marked by layoffs and a failed reorganization plan that led to the departure of former prime editor Sally Buzbee.His preliminary option to take over for Buzbee, Robert Winnett, withdrew from the job after moral questions had been raised about each he and Lewis’ actions whereas working in England. They together with paying for info that produced main tales, actions that will be thought-about unethical in American journalism. The present govt editor, Matt Murray, took over shortly thereafter.Lewis did not endear himself to Washington Submit journalists with blunt speak about their work, at one level saying in a employees assembly that they wanted to make modifications as a result of not sufficient individuals had been studying their work.This week’s layoffs have led to some requires Bezos to both enhance his funding in The Submit or promote it to somebody who will take a extra energetic position. Lewis, in his word, praised Bezos: “The establishment couldn’t have had a greater proprietor,” he mentioned.“Throughout my tenure, troublesome selections have been taken as a way to make sure the sustainable way forward for The Submit so it might for a few years forward publish high-quality nonpartisan information to hundreds of thousands of buyer every day,” Lewis mentioned.D’Onofrio, who joined the paper final June after serving because the monetary chief for the digital advert administration firm Raptive, mentioned in a word to employees that “we’re ending a tough week of change with extra change.“This can be a difficult time throughout all media organizations, and The Submit is sadly no exception,” he wrote. “I’ve had the privilege of serving to chart the course of disrupters and cultural stalwarts alike. All confronted financial headwinds in altering business landscapes, and we rose to satisfy these moments. I’ve little question we are going to do exactly that, collectively.”
Washington Submit writer Will Lewis mentioned Saturday that he’s stepping down, ending a troubled tenure three days after the newspaper mentioned that it was shedding one-third of its employees.
Lewis introduced his departure in a two-paragraph e mail to the newspaper’s employees, saying that after two years of transformation, “now’s the best time for me to step apart.” The Submit’s chief monetary officer, Jeff D’Onofrio, was appointed momentary writer.
Neither Lewis nor the newspaper’s billionaire proprietor Jeff Bezos participated within the assembly with employees members saying the layoffs on Wednesday. Whereas anticipated, the cutbacks had been deeper than anticipated, ensuing within the shutdown of the Submit’s famend sports activities part, the elimination of its pictures employees and sharp reductions in personnel liable for protection of metropolitan Washington and abroad.
They got here on prime of widespread expertise defections in recent times on the newspaper, which misplaced tens of hundreds of subscribers following Bezos’ order late within the 2024 presidential marketing campaign pulling again from a deliberate endorsement of Kamala Harris, and a subsequent reorienting of its opinion part in a extra conservative route.
Martin Baron, the Submit’s first editor below Bezos, condemned his former boss this week for trying to curry favor with President Donald Trump and referred to as what has occurred on the newspaper “a case research in near-instant, self-inflicted model destruction.”
The British-born Lewis was a former prime govt at The Wall Road Journal earlier than taking up at The Submit in January 2024. His tenure has been rocky from the beginning, marked by layoffs and a failed reorganization plan that led to the departure of former prime editor Sally Buzbee.
His preliminary option to take over for Buzbee, Robert Winnett, withdrew from the job after moral questions had been raised about each he and Lewis’ actions whereas working in England. They together with paying for info that produced main tales, actions that will be thought-about unethical in American journalism. The present govt editor, Matt Murray, took over shortly thereafter.
Lewis did not endear himself to Washington Submit journalists with blunt speak about their work, at one level saying in a employees assembly that they wanted to make modifications as a result of not sufficient individuals had been studying their work.
This week’s layoffs have led to some requires Bezos to both enhance his funding in The Submit or promote it to somebody who will take a extra energetic position. Lewis, in his word, praised Bezos: “The establishment couldn’t have had a greater proprietor,” he mentioned.
“Throughout my tenure, troublesome selections have been taken as a way to make sure the sustainable way forward for The Submit so it might for a few years forward publish high-quality nonpartisan information to hundreds of thousands of buyer every day,” Lewis mentioned.
D’Onofrio, who joined the paper final June after serving because the monetary chief for the digital advert administration firm Raptive, mentioned in a word to employees that “we’re ending a tough week of change with extra change.
“This can be a difficult time throughout all media organizations, and The Submit is sadly no exception,” he wrote. “I’ve had the privilege of serving to chart the course of disrupters and cultural stalwarts alike. All confronted financial headwinds in altering business landscapes, and we rose to satisfy these moments. I’ve little question we are going to do exactly that, collectively.”
