Washington Post CEO and publisher Will Lewis has reportedly gone into a “state of hiding” as fury within the newsroom grows over the massive overhaul by the paper’s owner, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
Lewis, who took the reins of the Beltway broadsheet in 2023, has been noticeably absent since last June, several Washington Post staffers told The New Yorker in a lengthy feature published on Monday.
Staffers — already frustrated by an exodus sparked by Bezos’ decision to kill an endorsement of Kamala Harris shortly before the election — also told the outlet that they had concerns about the British-born Lewis’ drinking.
“One thing that has damaged him internally is that his drinking is widely known in the newsroom,” a former senior editor claimed. “It’s literally something his employees joke about.”
The absence of Lewis — who previously served as CEO of the Wall Street Journal — has fractured his relationship with executive editor Matt Murray, whom he appointed to the job earlier this year, the report said.
Part of the discord was related to how the newspaper covered his own volatile tenure at the paper, The New Yorker said. The publication has since mostly stopped covering itself.
“I know Will [Lewis] was very upset with Matt [Murray] for the (Washington) Post’s coverage and for some period of time wouldn‘t talk to Matt,” the former senior editor told The New Yorker.
Last week, Lewis skipped celebrating the paper’s multiple Pulitzer Prize wins at its DC newsroom, which was led by Murray, according to The New Yorker.
Lewis’ absence was attributed by Murray to a long-planned trip.
the outlet’s change in direction. GC Images
A rep for the Washington Post denied that Lewis and Murray had a falling out.
When asked about Lewis’ absence, the spokesperson told The Post that the exec respects the line of the newsroom but regularly attends news and opinion meetings.
The rep did not address Lewis’ alleged drinking.
Late last year, Lewis had raised eyebrows when he ditched the paper’s annual Eugene Meyer Awards. Instead, he hosted a private dinner for award recipients in January — though he skipped the cocktail hour, the New Yorker reported.
At the dinner, Lewis praised the the paper’s recent accomplishments even as he laid off nearly 100 people that month.
Don Graham, the 80-year-old son of former Post publisher and icon Katharine Graham, spoke out during the private dinner in an unusual unscripted moment. After outlining the Meyer Awards’ history, Graham said morale was low at the paper. Lewis reportedly kept his gaze fixed on his place setting.
“It was such a wild moment,” an attendee told the magazine.
In March, Lewis, Bezos and Murray were MIA at the the premiere of “Becoming Katharine Graham” at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.
Another person who spoke to The New Yorker said that morale has continued to be low and added that Lewis and his top deputies speak of the newsroom with “vitriol.”
They were constantly infantilizing them and constantly talking about how they needed to be disciplined,” the person said.
A spokesperson for the newspaper denied the claim and said Lewis has “tremendous” respect and appreciation for his colleagues.
Lewis has faced backlash from staffers over Bezos’ edict to move the paper’s left-leaning coverage more to the center, including a move to hire more right-leaning voices. Bezos also drew scorn after announcing the opinions section would be devoted to advocating for “personal liberties” and “free markets.”
The changes have sparked defections from a slew of editors, reporters and columnists. David Shipley, the newspaper’s opinion editor, resigned and more than 75,000 readers canceled their subscriptions in protest.
In January, more than 400 Washington Post journalists sent an angry letter to Bezos, pleading with him to intervene on the paper’s direction to restore the “trust that has been lost.”
