Scoop: Top editors stiff the Washington Post
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Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios
The situation at the Washington Post is so dire that two candidates to run the paper — Cliff Levy of the New York Times and Meta's Anne Kornblut, a former Post editor — both withdrew from consideration for the top newsroom job over the paper's strategy, sources involved in the process say.
Why it matters: The Post is scrambling to find a new executive editor, the chair once held by Ben Bradlee, amid shrinking paid readership and revenue. Publisher and CEO Will Lewis, handpicked by owner Jeff Bezos to save the Post, hasn't impressed the candidates with his vision for the future, the sources tell us.
- One person involved in the search told us Lewis' pitch was foggy and uninspiring.
Zoom in: Levy, who pulled out last week, and Kornblut, whose conversations ended in September, declined to comment. Other candidates include current interim executive editor Matt Murray. But it's hard to imagine this monthslong process unfolding so publicly — only to end with the same guy in charge.
- A few candidates were asked to write six-page memos — a hallmark of Amazon culture — about their journalistic vision for the paper, using AI and how to grow the Post's audience.
- Levy is a two-time Pulitzer winner who was an early advocate for digital innovation, and now is deputy publisher of two prized Times properties, The Athletic and Wirecutter. He started talking to the Post in August after the paper's search firm, Egon Zehnder, reached out.
Kornblut, who declined to move forward with the process after initial conversations, is Meta's VP of global product content operations.
- She had a formidable newspaper career before moving to the Bay Area as a tech executive: She was a Washington correspondent for the Boston Globe and the New York Times before becoming a Washington Post reporter and editor for eight years.
- Kornblut rose to deputy assistant managing editor for national news, where she was the lead editor on Pulitzer-winning coverage of Edward Snowden's NSA revelations.
Matea Gold — a respected, popular managing editor many reporters wanted in the top job, and who conceived of and ran the Post's Pulitzer-winning investigation into the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol — announced last week that she's moving to the New York Times as Washington editor, making her deputy to the bureau chief.
- There's lots of anxiety in the Post newsroom right now about whether the paper is still committed to that kind of fearless accountability reporting.
Axios confirmed that the search firm also reached out to Kevin Merida and Steven Ginsberg, two former Washington Post managing editors. Neither expressed interest in the role.
- Merida stepped down as editor of the L.A. Times earlier this year. Ginsberg is executive editor of The Athletic, the N.Y. Times sports outlet that Levy oversees.
The big picture: Bezos has said little about what he wants for a revived Post. He is scheduled to dine with President-elect Trump at Mar-a-Lago this week — two months after killing a Post endorsement of Trump's rival, Vice President Harris.
- Bezos' various business interests — Amazon and the Blue Origin space company — stand to gain or suffer from Trump's presidency.
- The Post has announced no major shifts or innovations under the Lewis regime. Toss in a demoralized staff and invigorated labor unions, and you have a mighty challenge for the next top editor.
Between the lines: The Post has lost a ton of talent this last year, and several stars are talking to competitors about leaving soon. One hot rumor inside the Post: The Atlantic is licking its chops over political writers who are increasingly poachable. Other Posties are eying the New York Times, long known at the Post as "Brand X."
- People involved in the process say Bezos has been mostly MIA at the Post, leaving matters to Lewis, who is unpopular in the newsroom.
- Several people familiar with the Post's search were baffled by the apparent absence of editorial vision or business strategy. "I'm not sure it's salvageable," one of them said.
Behind the scenes: A huge source of newsroom agita has been a decision by Lewis to scale back the traditional ceremony for the annual Eugene Meyer Awards, which recognize employees with 10+ years of service, and the Ben Bradlee Award for Courage in Journalism, honoring the relentless pursuit of truth.
- The year-end festivities were a huge deal at the paper: Honorees were called onstage and gave speeches, often tearful, before their families, colleagues and friends. Post legends Don Graham and Sally Quinn always attended. There was booze and a buffet supper.
- The extravaganza will be replaced by a smaller awards dinner in the new year for the winners, including revered sportswriter Sally Jenkins, and their families. A scaled-back toast to the newsroom winners will be held today at 2:30pm, along with a sendoff for Gold.
What we're watching: Given Gold's experience at the Post and what sources have described to Axios, Lewis appears most interested in hiring candidates from outside the organization.
- Insiders say Lewis' search for fresh faces is a possible sign that he distrusts the newsroom — especially after the internal meltdown over an aborted plan to appoint Robert Winnett, the top editor of The Telegraph in London.
