When The Washington Submit’s employees gathered within the newsroom in early Might to have a good time successful three Pulitzer Prizes, one individual was conspicuously absent: Will Lewis, the corporate’s writer and chief government.
That’s as a result of Mr. Lewis was in New York assembly with Jeff Bezos, the billionaire founding father of Amazon and proprietor of The Submit, who was within the metropolis to attend the Met Gala, in accordance with two individuals with data of the assembly.
The pair had been discussing a reorganization geared toward serving to The Submit flip round its enterprise. That included making a “third newsroom” inside The Submit to deal with new editorial merchandise, an thought blessed by Mr. Bezos, in accordance with a type of individuals and one other aware of the talks.
Mr. Lewis’s resolution this month to go forward with that plan has shaken The Submit. Sally Buzbee, the paper’s government editor, abruptly resigned, upsetting many within the newsroom. Since then, revelations about Mr. Lewis’s response to a years-old scandal have raised questions about his ethics earlier than and after he joined The Submit — and even questions on whether or not he would survive in his job.
Thus far, Mr. Bezos seems to be standing by Mr. Lewis, who joined the paper this 12 months. Mr. Bezos just lately expressed his assist for Mr. Lewis throughout one in every of their periodic conversations, in accordance with two individuals with data of the interplay.
Mr. Bezos’ choices to reshape The Submit underscore the central function he’s enjoying on the paper he purchased for $250 million greater than 10 years in the past. Mr. Bezos spends extra time on different initiatives, together with his house firm, Blue Origin, leaving the day-to-day operations and editorial technique to the chief government and high editors. However he’s finally The Submit’s most necessary determine.
He has picked The Submit’s chief executives and set the agenda for its enterprise, in accordance with a number of individuals with data of his interactions with individuals on the newspaper. He approves The Submit’s price range and advises the newspaper on enterprise issues by way of common telephone calls with the chief government and occasional conferences with its management crew.
In response to individuals who have spoken to him, he has mentioned that he believes The Submit may attain 100 million paying subscribers, a feat that may catapult it far forward of rivals. (The Submit now has about 2.5 million paying subscribers.)
Over the last dialog that Ms. Buzbee had with Mr. Bezos earlier than she resigned, he inspired her to run the “third newsroom” overseeing service journalism and social media, in accordance with an individual with data of the talks.
Up to now, Mr. Bezos had often urged Ms. Buzbee to suppose boldly when contemplating formidable digital initiatives, two different individuals mentioned.
Mr. Bezos didn’t reply to a number of requests for remark. The Submit mentioned in a press release: “We’re grateful for our proprietor’s ongoing assist and dedication to The Washington Submit.”
Within the first seven years after Mr. Bezos purchased The Submit, the newsroom employees greater than doubled and subscriptions elevated sharply, helped by the paper’s vigorous reporting on the Trump administration. However The Submit’s viewers has halved because the 2020 election, Mr. Lewis just lately instructed the newsroom, and the corporate misplaced $77 million in 2023.
Mr. Bezos, conscious of the rising enterprise issues, began paying extra consideration to his buy final 12 months. In June, the corporate introduced that Fred Ryan, the chief government since 2014, could be stepping down and that Patty Stonesifer, a veteran expertise government and a confidante of Mr. Bezos, would quickly take over.
Ms. Stonesifer organized conferences between Mr. Bezos and high editors and enterprise executives at The Submit’s headquarters in October. All through the conferences, Mr. Bezos requested questions concerning the protection, a lot of them targeted on how The Submit may flip its tales into merchandise that may serve its customers, in accordance with two individuals aware of his remarks. He was additionally targeted on reaching new readers, notably these in the midst of the nation.
In a gathering with The Submit’s political employees that day, Mr. Bezos additionally requested about how the newspaper was masking threats to democracy and the way it deliberate to interact with youthful readers on social media, the individuals mentioned, including that Mr. Bezos didn’t deal with particular tales however was within the general technique.
On the time, Mr. Bezos was additionally concerned with a Submit mission to succeed in out to a broader viewers. The Amazon founder had lengthy pushed The Submit to strive new issues to increase its viewers. At one level, he advised rewriting articles from different information organizations — however Ms. Buzbee most popular to offer precedence to unique journalism.
The mission, which originated in The Submit’s opinion part, concerned creating a brand new community of opinion writers. Mr. Bezos was pitched on a pilot model of this system with contributors from Kansas Metropolis, and a few type of the mission continues to be within the works.
He employed Mr. Lewis, a reporter turned information government, after Ms. Stonesifer labored with the recruiting agency Sucherman to discover a everlasting chief government.
Earlier than he was employed, The Submit examined allegations that Mr. Lewis had ties to one of many darkest intervals in British press historical past. Mr. Lewis has mentioned that, whereas working for Rupert Murdoch’s Information Corp greater than a decade earlier than, he was entrusted with cleansing up a phone-hacking scandal that led to the closing of one of many nation’s hottest tabloids. Some victims have alleged that he helped cowl up proof of wrongdoing — accusations that Mr. Lewis had repeatedly denied.
Ms. Stonesifer researched the aftermath of the scandal, in accordance with an individual aware of the matter. She got here away glad together with his clarification and assured that he was the proper government to run The Submit, the individual mentioned.
Mr. Lewis, who’s British, was named chief government in November, after a dinner with Ms. Stonesifer and Mr. Bezos at his mansion in Washington’s Kalorama neighborhood, and began in his new function in January.
Issues appeared comparatively calm till Mr. Lewis changed Ms. Buzbee this month. After Ms. Buzbee resigned, The New York Instances reported that she had clashed in mid-Might with Mr. Lewis over a choice to cowl a courtroom resolution involving him and different executives in a case tied to the phone-hacking scandal. Mr. Lewis has denied pressuring Ms. Buzbee.
An NPR reporter, David Folkenflik, later confirmed that reporting and mentioned that Mr. Lewis, after he had been employed for his job at The Submit, had supplied him an unique interview in trade for ignoring a narrative on the phone-hacking scandal, a quid professional quo that’s frowned upon in American journalism. Mr. Lewis has acknowledged having an off-the-record dialog with Mr. Folkenflik, whom he referred to as an “activist.”
The revelations incensed many journalists on the paper. Mr. Lewis has since issued a conciliatory memo to Submit employees members, and met with them this week in small teams to clarify his fascinated with his imaginative and prescient for The Submit and the occasions of the previous two weeks. Submit employees members had been additionally despatched an inside survey on June 5 asking for his or her suggestions on Mr. Lewis’s new plans for the newsroom, together with whether or not they assist the necessity for a 3rd newsroom and the way they view using A.I.
Final Saturday, after per week of intense scrutiny, Mr. Lewis despatched out an e mail: “Let me let you know, I’ve had a really annoying week.”
The e-mail, obtained by The Instances, went to a non-public record of people that subscribe to Mr. Lewis’s studying suggestions publication, which is shipped from a non-Submit e mail tackle.
Mr. Lewis made no point out of his skilled stressors. As a substitute, he regaled readers with the story of how his mom’s cat, Gabbro, went lacking in London.
“Fortunately, Gabbro is now again in my mom’s palms and we will all get pleasure from a restful weekend,” he signed off.
