As the billionaire owner of The Washington Post, Jeff Bezos faces new scrutiny whether he is responsible for the struggle on paper.
Bezos is the subject of a long story published Monday in the title of The New Yorker: “Did Jeff Bezos sell the Washington Post?”
The article provides a timeline, with Bezos buying $250 million from the Graham Family Dynasty in 2013 and pointing to the leadership changes in Marty Baron, Sally Buzbee and current interim executive executive editor Matt Murray, revisiting various newsroom controversies with President Bezos and President Donald Trump over the years.
Wapo columnist called Jeff Bezos
The New Yorker publishes a long story that focuses on billionaire Jeff Bezos as owner of The Washington Post. ((karwai Tang/Wireimage photography) Eric Baradat/AFP via Getty Images)
A clerk of the story told Clare Malone of the New Yorker that she looked “lost contact” when she sat down one-on-one with a group of Post reporters in January 2023.
"He's very isolated and he hasn't done the job to get involved and become a hands-on owner," the reporter told Malone. "If you're going to own a media property right now, you need to go all out and understand the landscape."
But his unilateral decision, thanks to the owner of the Post, canceled the endorsement of this article's plan weeks before the 2024 election, is widely regarded as a stain on Bezos' term.
"Not-register shocked a lot of people because it was done in a ham-foot way, and it was all Bezos," a postal staff member told Fox News Digital. "If he had announced the policy two years ago, no one would have cared."
This action by Bezos prompted his resignation and canceled more than 250,000 canceled subscriptions from angry free readers. Staff said it was unclear whether the position could recover from the lasting damage caused.
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In the months that followed, the post faced unprecedented top talents, such as state editor Philip Rucker, who went to CNN, and executive editor Matea Gold, who went to The New York Times, and top journalists like Josh Dawsey, who went to Ashley Parker and Michael Parker and Michael Scherer, who both went to Ashley Parker and Michael Scherer, who both went to Ashley Parker and Michael Scherer, who were willing to.
Last week, post-reporter Aaron Blake was poached by Rucker and is now CNN's senior vice president of editorial strategy and journalism.
"Aaron is a real loss, but Rucker's wise move will make him a star," the postal staff told Fox News Digital.
When many postal workers find jobs in other media, others stay to protest Bezos’ work, including columnists Jennifer Rubin and Eugene Robinson. In January, cartoonist Ann Telnaes resigned after his boss refused to publish a cartoon that depicts Bezos and others fighting at the feet of then-elected Trump. By the way, she made her last week fearlessly because of her “remarks on powerful people and institutions with keen, creativity and fearlessness that she left the news organization after 17 years.”
After Washington Post cartoonist Ann Telnaes resigned in January, a cartoon mocked Bezos at the feet of the then-elected Trump at the feet of the newspaper. (Screen shot/CNN/Antelnaes)
In February, comment editor David Shipley resigned after Bezos regularly defended the column “individual freedom and free market” and banned against their views. Senior postal columnist Ruth Marcus also resigned after calling for Bezos's policy to be killed. Bezos' move is similar to his non-registration decision, and the paper reportedly costs another 250,000 paid subscribers.
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The outpost never lowered morale, but the blame did not point to Bezos. Since leading the newspaper in 2024, Bezos' hand-selected CEO and publisher Will Lewis has been in a tough term.
Last June, Lewis' blunt message sent at a meeting angered his staff and told them that "people are not reading your stuff" as he lamented the financial loss and shrinking audience.
"Will has been a ghost since July. He can't even find time to show up at the Pulitzer Festival," the postal staff said.
A Washington Post spokesman said backwards: “Lewis respects the boundaries of the newsroom, but attends regular news and public opinion meetings to express support and encouragement in appropriate ways.”
According to reporters from The New Yorker, Will Lewis, a Washington Post publisher and CEO, is often cited in exit interviews as a reason why journalists leave the newspaper. (Elliott O'Donovan for The Washington Post via Getty Images
The New Yorker reported that staff attributed their departure from the Post to Lewis' "lack of paper plans" in the exit interview.
“The idea of the newsroom is postal The struggle is unfair,” a former top editor told The New Yorker. “The newsroom isn’t always their best friend, but it’s a way to believe Jeff, and that’s the problem when there’s really no business strategy. ”
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Despite the post’s current distress, the staff who spoke to Fox News Digital were not completely discouraged, which was what Pulitzer rewarded the paper last week, and the various spoons it landed while covering the Trump administration. Insiders also believe Bezos doubled the size of newspaper staff and the resources provided by billionaire bosses, calling it "huge."
"Besides thanking Bezos, and how he saved a spiral-rolling paper, could be a shadow now, if not left," the postal staff told Fox News Digital. "I blame him for being an absent owner and prevented (former postal publisher) Fred Ryan from taking advantage of the big boost we've gained in Trump's first term. Lewis quickly failed, but Bezos was distracted again and couldn't notice."
They added: "When Bezos buys a post, you have to keep in mind how bad things are. We are at the bottom of the rock. We are not that far down yet."