Washington Post Reporters Deliver Unflinching Piece on Claims Against New CEO Rattling Newsroom

The Washington Post’s new publisher is drawing intense scrutiny from inside and outside his own newsroom after the ouster of top editor Sally Buzbee and some explosive allegations about his management.

All of this was detailed in a stunning account published by the Washington Post, which delivered an unflinching report on the woes faced by the CEO and publisher, Will Lewis, who took the job just a few months ago.

Post reporters Sarah Ellison and Elahe Izadi shared a byline on the story published late Thursday. It’s a credit to the editorial independence of the Post and to the fearlessness of its media team, which delivered a clear-eyed and straightforward portrayal of the allegations leveled at Lewis — namely, the somewhat explosive claim that he tried to bribe NPR media reporter David Folkenflik to spike an unflattering story.

Folkenflik claimed Lewis tried to kill a negative story about his alleged role in the infamous phone hacking scandal by dangling an exclusive interview. From Mediaite’s reporting:

Folkenflik reported in a piece published on Thursday that back in December 2023 he was approached by Lewis, who at the time had just been appointed CEO of the Post by owner Jeff Bezos. According to Folkenflik, Lewis “repeatedly and heatedly” urged him not write a story about his role in the the phone hacking scandal, and offered an exclusive interview about the future of the Post if he dropped it.

Folkenflik alleged that a spokesperson for Lewis confirmed the quid pro quo offer. NPR published the hacking story anyway.

In a statement provided to the Washington Post, by the Washington Post, Lewis pushed back on that claim as well as reporting that he pushed Buzbee to not cover the phone hacking case. He had particularly harsh words for Folkenflik:

In his email to The Post, Lewis called Folkenflik — who published a book in 2013 on Rupert Murdoch’s media empire — “an activist, not a journalist.” Lewis added: “I had an off the record conversation with him before I joined you at The Post and some six months later he has dusted it down, and made up some excuse to make a story of a non-story.”

Folkenflik told The Post late Thursday their off-the-record agreement related to the substance of the hacking case and the story he was reporting, but not “his efforts to induce me to kill my story.” He added that Lewis and a London-based press aide “subsequently confirmed” the nature of the offer in exchanges “that were not placed off the record.”

Folkenflik noted that Lewis did not deny the offers. As for Lewis’s description of him as an “activist,” Folkenflik noted that “The Post itself and the New York Times do find my stories newsworthy.”

The piece goes on to describe a newsroom that’s dismayed by the accounts on display and how, if true, they are a failure the basic journalistic standards any reputable news outlet should aspire to:

Many in The Post newsroom found the accounts dismaying. A publisher and CEO oversees the entirety of a newspaper but traditionally does not direct or oversee decisions about what to report.

It is considered a third rail in journalism for business-side leaders to intervene or attempt to influence coverage in their own publications, particularly when it concerns them and their own interests, said Kathleen Culver, director of the Center for Journalism Ethics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The rest of the piece offers a broad and balanced account of the transitionary period at Post, the challenges Lewis faces, and his openness to work with editors. That this report published is at the very least a sign that his penchant for spiking negative stories about himself is a habit he’s leaving behind.

It’s safe to say Will Lewis’s tenure at the Post did not start without serious newsroom troubles. Add all of this to his growing pile of woes, which includes turning around the Post’s business ($77 million in losses last year, a 50% audience drop since 2020, he says).

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.