Yahoo News Robert Winnett Won’t Be Moving To The Washington Post As Next Editor; CEO Will Lewis Announces New Search
Robert Winnett will not be joining the Washington Post as editor this fall, amid the fallout following a staff revolt over CEO Will Lewis’ abrupt change in newsroom leadership and reports that have raised ethical concerns over his and Winnett’s previous journalism practices in the UK.
Winnett, deputy editor of The Telegraph Media Group, has decided to stay in London. Chris Evans, the editor of the Telegraph, wrote in a memo to staffers, per the Post, “I’m pleased to report that Rob Winnett has decided to stay with us. As you all know, he’s a talented chap and their loss is our gain.”
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In a memo obtained by Deadline, Lewis wrote to staffers, “It is with regret that I share with you that Robert Winnett has withdrawn from the position of Editor at The Washington Post. 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 wrote that they “will immediately launch a new search for Editor of our core coverage,” and that the Post would retain a recruiting firm and use a process “to ensure a timely but thorough search for this important leadership role.”
Winnett was to have become editor as part of a restructured leadership plan laid out earlier this month by Lewis. Sally Buzbee, the executive editor, departed, and Winnett was to have overseen coverage areas including politics, investigations, business, technology, sports and features, while Matt Murray, the former editor in chief of the Wall Street Journal, was to oversee a new division dubbed the “third newsroom,” dedicated to winning over new readers with new types of content.
But the shakeup quickly ran into controversy among the newsroom staff, who questioned Lewis on the departure of Buzbee; how Winnett, one of his former colleagues, was selected; and the direction of the publication. Then there were reports that triggered further concerns over past editorial practices by Winnett and Lewis earlier in their careers in the UK.
The Post itself reported earlier this week on Winnett’s career in the UK, including his interactions with a suspect arrested in 2010 alleged to have tried to steal an unreleased copy of former British prime minister Tony Blair’s memoir. The suspect, John Ford, was a trained actor who had admitted to using deceptive means to gain information.
Lewis was a mentor to Winnett, and the Post CEO himself has faced questions about his involvement in the obtaining of hacked phone records. The New York Times reported that when Lewis was an editor at the Sunday Times two decades ago, he assigned a story that relied on the hacked records.
The Post has retained former senior managing editor Cameron Barr to oversee the coverage related to Lewis. Winnett and Lewis have not commented on the details raised in the Post and Times pieces.
Earlier this week, David Maraniss, the famed biographer and Post veteran, wrote on Facebook, “I don’t know a single person at the Post who thinks the current situation with the publisher and supposed new editor can stand.”
Jeff Bezos, the owner of the Post, issued a statement to staffers, writing that “the journalistic standards and ethics at The Post will not change. To be sure, it can’t be business as usual at the Post. The world is evolving rapidly and we do need to change as a business.”
Lewis has implored staffers of the need for drastic change, revealing that the Post lost $77 million last year and has experienced a dramatic decline in online traffic.
Lewis wrote today that Murray would continue in the role of executive editor through the elections “and also carry forward planning the leading the third newsroom.” Lewis wrote that the Post would continue to pursue that plan with full implementation in the first quarter of 2025.
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