By Liam Reilly | CNN
“The Washington Post is continuing its transformation to meet the needs of the industry, build a more sustainable future and reach audiences where they are,” a Publish spokesperson instructed CNN. “Changes across our business functions are all in service of our greater goal to best position The Post for the future.”
The Publish’s monetary woes are nothing new. When Will Lewis, the Publish’s writer and chief govt, was named to the highest job in November 2023, the storied paper was already reeling from the layoffs, readership decline, and excessive bills which have hounded all the business. But, the extent to which the Publish’s coffers had been sapped turned obvious in Could, when Lewis revealed the paper had misplaced $77 million in 2023.
“To speak candidly,” Lewis stated in a Could assembly, “we are in a hole, and we have been for some time.”
Whereas Lewis supplied a plan to proper the ship on the time, the Publish has since waded into deeper waters. Lower than two weeks earlier than the November election, Bezos, the billionaire Amazon founder who acquired the Publish in 2013 for $250 million, blocked the paper’s endorsement of Harris, breaking with a decades-long custom and ensuing within the resignation of three editorial board staffers. On the time, Bezos defended the transfer, noting in an October op-ed that “presidential endorsements do nothing to tip the scales of an election.”
Talking with Andrew Ross Sorkin on the Instances’ DealBook Summit, Bezos stated “it was the right decision,” including that he was “proud” of the selection.
“The advantage I bring to the Post is when they need financial resources, I’m available,” Bezos joked on stage. “I’m the doting parent in that regard.”
Whereas Bezos is just not the one billionaire media proprietor to dam an endorsement through the 2024 election cycle, the Publish’s funds have suffered from the transfer. Within the days after Bezos blocked the endorsement, over 250,000 Publish readers canceled their subscriptions, roughly 10% of the paper’s digital subscribers.
Inside The Publish, the transfer ignited turmoil, resulting in a number of current high-profile defections.
In December, Matea Gold, the Publish’s managing editor, shared she was leaving the Publish for The New York Instances. Final week, The Atlantic poached political reporters Ashley Parker and Michael Scherer, the Instances scooped up White Home reporter Tyler Pager, the Wall Road Journal nabbed investigative politics reporter Josh Dawsey, and Puck poached veteran journalist Leigh Ann Caldwell.
The strikes come as Bezos makes an attempt to restore his relationship with the incoming president, eating final month with Trump at Mar-a-Lago and making a $1 million donation to his inaugural fund.
On Sunday, Amazon stated it might launch a documentary about first girl Melania Trump on its Prime Video platform later this yr. Melania Trump will function an govt producer of the challenge, signaling that the documentary is being made together with her full participation — and editorial management.
