Can Brits save the ailing Washington Post? Changes at the top to stem losses

Can Brits save the sinking fortunes of the Washington Post? The newspaper’s owner Jeff Bezos named Sir William Lewis, the British formerly chief executive of Dow Jones and publisher of the Wall Street Journal, as chief executive officer and publisher in November 2023. Lewis, who took charge in January this year, is now filling senior positions with former colleagues and Britons.

The Post’s American executive editor Sally Buzbee, hired three years ago, quit on Sunday (June 2) after disagreements with Lewis.

The American Matt Murray, former editor-in-chief of the Wall Street Journal, replaced her as executive editor – but only till the US presidential election in November.

He will be succeeded by a Briton: Robert Winnett, deputy editor of the UK-based The Telegraph Media Group.

Lewis has also hired fellow Britons Suzi Watford as chief strategy officer and Karl Wells as chief growth officer.

Lewis, a former editor of The Daily Telegraph, the flagship of The Telegraph Media Group, has worked with all of them in the past.

Winnett, as editor, will be responsible for the Post’s core news offering, while Murray will oversee the formation of a new newsroom at the Post focusing on service and social media journalism.

The Post is seeking new ways to lure back readers.

“The aim is to give the millions of Americans – who feel traditional news is not for them but still want to be kept informed –compelling, exciting and accurate news where they are and in the style that they want,” said the Post.

At a staff meeting announcing the changes, Lewis stressed the need for transformation.

‘We are losing large amounts of money. Your audience has halved’

“We are going to turn this thing around, but let’s not sugarcoat it. It needs turning around,” he said. “We are losing large amounts of money. Your audience has halved in recent years. People are not reading your stuff. Right. I can’t sugarcoat it anymore.”

The Post won six Pulitzer Prizes in the three years under Buzbee, but Lewis has a different mandate. Hired by Bezos to stem falling subscriptions and mounting losses – the Post suffered a $77 million deficit over the past year — he wanted immediate action, only five months after taking charge.

Buzbee wanted the changes to be made after the US presidential election. But Lewis wasn’t willing to wait.

Buzbee also didn’t like the reorganization plan, which would have left her in charge of only one of the divisions instead of the whole newsroom.

“I really enjoyed working with Sally,” Lewis said. “I wish it could have gone on for longer, but it couldn’t.”

The Associated Press reported: “Like most news organizations, the Post has lost readers — a decline more acute because the Washington-based outlet boomed with the interest in politics during the Trump administration. The Post’s website had 101 million unique visitors a month in 2020, and had dropped to 50 million at the end of 2023. The Post lost a reported $77 million last year.”

“Although Jeff Bezos is very rich, it has been my observation that billionaires don’t like to lose money,” said Margaret Sullivan, a former Post columnist.

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