More than 400 Washington Post journalists sent an angry letter on Wednesday to owner Jeff Bezos, pleading with him to intervene on the paper’s direction to restore the “trust that has been lost.”
The move comes as the Beltway broadsheet has seen a growing list of distinguished journalists head for the exits after Bezos intervened to stop the outlet from endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election.
Bezos defended the decision in an op-ed for the paper, which saw nearly 300,000 readers cancel their subscriptions in the days after the endorsement was killed.
“You recently wrote that ensuring the long-term success and editorial independence of this newspaper is essential. We agree, and we believe you take as much pride in The Washington Post as we do,” the letter began.
“We are deeply alarmed by recent leadership decisions that have led readers to question the integrity of this institution, broken with a tradition of transparency, and prompted some of our most distinguished colleagues to leave, with more departures imminent.”
The letter, signed by many of the paper’s remaining star journalists, went on to note that the issues go beyond the endorsement, which they acknowledged was the “owner’s prerogative.”
“This is about regaining our competitive edge, restoring trust that has been lost, and reestablishing a relationship with leadership based on open communication,” the letter said.
Staffers have rebelled against the appointment of Will Lewis as CEO. The former publisher of the Wall Street Journal has attempted to push the left-leaning publication more to the middle and has barred its journalists from reporting on the paper — specifically after Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Ann Telnaes quit over an illustration that was scrapped.
She had lampooned Bezos and other tech titans for bending the knee to President-elect Donald Trump.
The letter “urged” the Amazon founder to come to the office and meet with Post leaders as he has in the past for a debrief about what has been going on.
“We understand the need for change and we are eager to deliver the news in innovative ways. But we need a clear vision we can believe in,” they wrote, before adding that they are still committed to journalism that holds power to account and pursuing stories “without fear or favor.”
The letter concluded: “As you wrote when you first became The Post’s owner in 2013, ‘The values of The Post do not need changing.’ We urge you to stand with us in reaffirming those values.”
The Washington Post declined to comment.
Reps for Bezos did not immediately return requests for comment.
Since Lewis took the helm last summer, the exec pushed out Sally Buzbee, the paper’s first female editor, and bluntly told journalists in an internal meeting: “People are not reading your stuff.”
At the time, Lewis told staffers that the paper lost $77 million in 2023 and that its digital subscriber base fell off considerably since 2020.
In November, the site brought in 54 million digital visitors, less than half the 114 million it reeled in in November 2020, according to Comscore data.
Earlier this month, the paper laid off roughly 100 staffers in its business divisions.
In recent weeks, political correspondents Ashley Parker and Michael Scherer, as well as White House correspondent Tyler Pager and investigative reporter Josh Dawsey, decamped for other outlets.
Three Opinions section members — David Hoffman, Molly Roberts and Robert Kagan — quit following the decision not to endorse any candidate for the first time in decades.
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