WASHINGTON, UNITED STATES
\nThe Washington Post said Saturday its CEO and publisher Will Lewis was leaving effective immediately, just days after the storied newspaper owned by billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos made drastic job cuts that angered readers.
\nThough newspapers across the United States have been facing brutal industry headwinds, Lewis\u2019s management of the outlet was sharply criticized by subscribers and employees alike during his two-year tenure as he tried to reverse financial losses at the daily.
\nLewis, who is English, has been replaced by Jeff D\u2019Onofrio, a former CEO of social media platform Tumblr who had joined the Post as chief financial officer last year, the paper announced. In an email to staff shared on social media by one of the newspaper\u2019s reporters, Lewis said it was \u201cthe right time for me to step aside.\u201d
\nA statement from the Post said only that D\u2019Onofrio was succeeding Lewis \u201ceffective immediately.\u201d
\nHundreds of Post journalists — including most of its overseas, local and sports staff — were let go in the sweeping cuts announced on Tuesday. The Post did not disclose the number of jobs being eliminated, but The New York Times reported approximately 300 of its 800 journalists were laid off.
\nThe paper\u2019s entire Middle East roster was let go as was its Kyiv-based Ukraine correspondent as the war with Russia grinds on.Sports, graphics and local news departments were sharply scaled back and the paper\u2019s daily podcast, Post Reports, was suspended, local media reported.
\nHundreds turned out Thursday at a protest in front of the paper\u2019s headquarters in downtown Washington. Newspapers across the country have cratered under falling revenues and subscriptions as they compete for eyeballs with social media, and as internet revenue pales in comparison to what print advertising once commanded.
\nHowever, national papers like The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal have managed to weather the storm and come out financially solid — something the Post, even with a billionaire backer, has failed to do.
\nIn Lewis\u2019s note to staff, shared on X by White House bureau chief Matt Viser, Lewis said \u201cdifficult decisions have been taken\u201d during his tenure \u201cin order to ensure the sustainable future of The Post so it can for many years ahead publish high-quality nonpartisan news.\u201d
\nBezos, one of the world\u2019s richest people, and Lewis have come under scrutiny for intervening directly in the paper\u2019s editorial processes.Bezos reined in the newspaper\u2019s liberal-leaning editorial page and blocked an endorsement of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris days before the 2024 election — breaking the so-called firewall of editorial independence. He was widely seen as bowing to Trump.
\nThe Wall Street Journal reported last month that 250,000 digital subscribers left the Post after it refrained from endorsing Harris, and the paper lost around $100 million in 2024 as advertising and subscription revenues fell.
\nMarty Baron, the Post\u2019s executive editor until 2021, said that the job cuts ranked \u201camong the darkest days in the history of one of the world\u2019s greatest news organizations.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WASHINGTON, UNITED STATES The Washington Post said Saturday its CEO and publisher Will Lewis was leaving effective immediately, just days after the storied newspaper owned by billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos made drastic job cuts that angered readers. Though newspapers across the United States have been facing brutal industry headwinds, Lewis\u2019s management of the outlet […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":530291,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-530270","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n