Scoop: Former WashPost CEO to host party for outgoing editor Sally Buzbee
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Former Washington Post executive editor Sally Buzbee, right, applauds as Patty Stonesifer, center left, is introduced as the paper's interim CEO in June 2023. Photo: Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post via Getty Images
Former interim Washington Post CEO Patty Stonesifer, a longtime confidant of the Post's owner Jeff Bezos, is planning to throw a party for Sally Buzbee, the former executive editor who stepped down abruptly Sunday evening amid a broader shake-up, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: The gesture is notable after major internal backlash over Buzbee's resignation and drama surrounding new CEO Will Lewis.
Catch up quick: Lewis, a former News Corp. executive, has come under intense fire from staff following Buzbee's departure, the announcement of a new editorial structure, and reports of his attempt to meddle in newsroom decisions.
Driving the news: The party will be hosted at Stonesifer's home in Washington in the coming weeks, sources told Axios.
- Top-level executives — notably, several women executives — received word of the event on Thursday.
- Stonesifer hosted an event for Lewis at her home earlier this year when he first took over as CEO and publisher of the Post.
Zoom out: The party is notable given the abrupt nature of Buzbee's resignation, after three years of leading the Post and serving as its first-ever woman executive editor.
- Reports of a recent impasse between her and Lewis have set off alarm bells internally among staff who are worried about the Post's editorial direction under Lewis.
State of play: Lewis tried to pressure Buzbee not to run a story about his alleged ties to the British phone-hacking scandal over a decade ago, according to multiple reports.
- Lewis told Buzbee that her decision to print the story "represented a lapse in judgment," according to the New York Times.
- On Thursday, a spokesperson for the Post told the Times that its "account of a meeting he had with the then-executive editor is inaccurate."
- NPR reported on Thursday that Lewis offered to give NPR an exclusive interview about the Post's future, as long as the reporter dropped the story about the allegations.
The big picture: Staffers are also flustered and unsettled by Lewis' plans to create a separate newsroom division for social media and service journalism.
- They are frustrated and concerned that the two new editorial leaders Lewis is bringing in are both white men.
- Sources told Axios that the Post's top two women editors, managing editors Matea Gold and Krissah Thompson, were not considered or even interviewed for either of the two new newsroom editor posts.
Zoom in: Managers are feeling completely demoralized by the situation, sources said.
- They don't know how or whether to support the new regime, given the unanswered questions about the interaction between Lewis and Buzbee over the phone-hacking scandal story and the new structure.
What to watch: The union representing Post staffers has requested a town hall meeting with Lewis for employees to ask questions about the restructuring, a guild spokesperson confirmed to Axios.
- Managers, sources said, are concerned about what the new structure means for staffing and resources.
