Washington Post writer Will Lewis says he is stepping down, days after huge layoffs

Washington Post writer Will Lewis mentioned Saturday that he’s stepping down, ending a troubled tenure three days after the newspaper mentioned that it was laying off one-third of its staff.

Lewis introduced his departure in a two-paragraph e mail to the newspaper’s employees, saying that after two years of transformation, “now is the right time for me to step aside.” The Post’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 asserting the layoffs on Wednesday. While anticipated, the cutbacks have been deeper than anticipated, ensuing within the shutdown of the Post’s renowned sports section, the elimination of its pictures employees and sharp reductions in personnel chargeable for protection of metropolitan Washington and abroad.

They got here on prime of widespread expertise defections lately on the newspaper, which misplaced tens of 1000’s of subscribers following Bezos’ order late within the 2024 presidential marketing campaign pulling back from a planned endorsement of Kamala Harris, and a subsequent reorienting of its opinion part in a extra conservative route.

Martin Baron, the Post’s first editor below Bezos, condemned his former boss this week for trying to curry favor with President Donald Trump and known as what has occurred on the newspaper “a case study in near-instant, self-inflicted brand destruction.”

The British-born Lewis was a former prime government at The Wall Street Journal earlier than taking on at The Post in January 2024. His tenure has been rocky from the start, 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 have been raised about each he and Lewis’ actions whereas working in England. They together with paying for info that produced main tales, actions that may be thought of unethical in American journalism. The present government editor, Matt Murray, took over shortly thereafter.

Lewis did not endear himself to Washington Post journalists with blunt speak about their work, at one level saying in a employees assembly that they wanted to make adjustments as a result of not sufficient individuals have been studying their work.

This week’s layoffs have led to some requires Bezos to both enhance his funding in The Post or promote it to somebody who will take a extra energetic position. Lewis, in his be aware, praised Bezos: “The institution could not have had a better owner,” he mentioned.

“During my tenure, difficult decisions have been taken in order to ensure the sustainable future of The Post so it can for many years ahead publish high-quality nonpartisan news to millions of customers each day,” Lewis mentioned.

The Washington Post Guild, the union representing employees members, known as Lewis’ exit lengthy overdue.

“His legacy will be the attempted destruction of a great American journalism institution,” the Guild mentioned in an announcement. “But it’s not too late to save The Post. Jeff Bezos must immediately rescind these layoffs or sell the paper to someone willing to invest in its future.”

Bezos didn’t point out Lewis in an announcement saying D’Onofrio and his workforce are positioned to guide The Post into “an exciting and thriving next chapter.”

“The Post has an essential journalistic mission and an extraordinary opportunity,” Bezos mentioned. “Each and every day our readers give us a roadmap to success. The data tells us what is valuable and where to focus.”

D’Onofrio, who joined the paper final June after jobs on the digital advert administration firm Raptive, Google, Zagat and Major League Baseball, mentioned in a be aware to employees that “we are ending a hard week of change with more change.

“This is a challenging time across all media organizations, and The Post is unfortunately no exception,” he wrote. “I’ve had the privilege of helping chart the course of disrupters and cultural stalwarts alike. All faced economic headwinds in changing industry landscapes, and we rose to meet those moments. I have no doubt we will do just that, together.”

___

David Bauder writes concerning the intersection of media and leisure for the AP. Follow him at and https://bsky.app/profile/dbauder.bsky.social.