Robert Winnett will no longer join Washington Post as top editor
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Post CEO Will Lewis addresses staff in 2023. Photo: Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post via Getty Images
Robert Winnett will remain at his post as top editor of the Telegraph, instead of joining the Washington Post later this year, the Post's CEO told staffers in a memo Friday.
Why it matters: His decision to stay relieves some pressure from Post CEO Will Lewis, whose decision to name his former colleague Winnett as the Post's next editor, as a part of a broader newsroom restructuring, sparked considerable internal and external scrutiny.
Zoom in: "It is with regret that I share with you that Robert Winnett has withdrawn from the position of Editor at The Washington Post," Lewis wrote.
- "Rob has my greatest respect and is an incredibly talented editor and journalist. The leadership at The Telegraph Media Group are reaffirming his continued role as deputy editor."
- Lewis said The Post will "immediately launch a new search for Editor of our core coverage. We will soon announce both the recruiting firm and process we will utilize to ensure a timely but thorough search for this important leadership role."
Catch up quick: Winnett and Lewis have come under fire in recent weeks for their alleged involvement in a decades-old British phone hacking scandal, and for using reporting tactics — like paying a key source for information — that most major U.S. outlets don't allow.
- That, along with a new newsroom restructuring announced last month by Lewis, had begun to shake employee morale.
- The New York Times reported that Lewis and Winnett used stolen phone and company records in articles for London's Sunday Times in the 2000s.
- The Post followed up with its own 3,000 word investigation exploring Winnett's journalistic record and contrasting reporting ethics in the U.K. and the U.S.
- The Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos sent a memo to newsroom leadership on Tuesday vowing that "the journalistic standards and ethics at The Post will not change."
Winnett is best known in U.K. journalism for his key role in a landmark Telegraph investigation into the expense claims of members of Parliament. He'll remain as deputy editor at the Telegraph, a role he has held for the past decade.
- The Washington Post did not immediately return a request for comment.
