Washington
Jeff Bezos Hasn’t Delivered What He Promised With The Washington Post
The latest plan for reversing losses at The Washington Post prompted the departure of its top editor, while raising questions about CEO Will Lewis, whose plan was cobbled together during months of discussions with owner Jeff Bezos. The plan itself remains largely a mystery and what little has been revealed isn’t reassuring.
When Bezos bought the Post for $250 million in 2013, the Amazon founder sought to assure staffers and customers that “the values of The Post do not need changing.” Bezos has consistently championed editorial independence since then, and has accepted the financial and reputational risks of owning a publication dedicated to covering politics and government.
Despite former President Donald Trump’s efforts to punish Amazon for coverage in the Post that he disliked, Bezos has never publicly complained about the Post’s critical coverage of the White House or of Amazon and himself.
Few questioned whether Bezos, whom Warren Buffet had called “the ablest CEO in America,” could fix the Post’s business. Under the Graham family’s leadership, the company had remained profitable by cutting expenses, but it lacked the resources to invest in the Post’s future. So, it was sold to Bezos, who promised the money and patience needed to ensure a turnaround.
Amazon founder and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos delivers remarks during the opening ceremony of the media company’s new location January 28, 2016 in Washington, DC.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
But after a decade of investing in technology and expanded coverage, the Post says it lost $77 million in 2023 and that it has lost half its audience since 2020. The losses have continued this year. The results are consistent with those reported by other large urban publications.
Under Bezos and the Grahams, The Washington Post has sought to compete with The New York Times. It frequently does so editorially—it was awarded three Pulitzers this year and was a finalist in three other categories—but not as a business. The Times had net income of $232 million in 2023, up from $65 million in 2013. More impressively, at the end of 2023, the Times had 9.7 million digital-only subscribers, compared with only 760,000 digital subscribers a decade earlier. Acquisitions including The Athletic and Wirecutter, together with expanded sections devoted to recipes, gardening, and puzzles have buttressed the Times’ news coverage.
“While there may be a global audience for The Post’s coverage of politics, it is unclear what else readers outside the Beltway will pay for.”
Lewis announced on June 3 that Matt Murray—former editor in chief of The Wall Street Journal—had replaced Executive Editor Sally Buzbee, and that Murray would serve as interim editor through November’s presidential election. Murray will then lead a new unit, reportedly focused on local service journalism, and Robert Winnett—deputy editor of London’s Telegraph Media Group—will become the editor responsible for core coverage, including politics, international investigations, and business news.
The Washington Post Building at One Franklin Square Building on June 5, 2024 in Washington, DC.
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Anguished editorial staffers questioned Lewis about Buzbee’s departure, and also about reports that surfaced following the announcement that Lewis had sought to kill stories in the Post and on NPR about allegations of improper behavior years earlier, while working for Rupert Murdoch in London during Britain’s notorious phone-hacking scandal.
Lewis denied the allegations, but may have made matters worse by questioning the NPR writer’s integrity. The New York Times and others reported he also questioned Buzbee’s competence for thinking the allegations newsworthy.
I don’t know Lewis and I have rarely spoken to Bezos since TIME named him its Person of the Year in 1999. It may come as a surprise to journalists, but Bezos—like other billionaires I have known or worked for—doesn’t like losing money. Bezos’ net worth is close to $200 billion, but he has no interest in funding Post losses for the next 2,000 years, or, for that matter, the next 2,000 days.
Like other billionaires, Bezos has diverse interests and he has rarely been a visible presence in the Post’s newsroom. He has also shown a penchant for relying on his instincts. He chose Fred Ryan, Lewis’ predecessor, on the recommendation of Jean Case, a friend and a former technology executive.
Lewis reached out to Bezos last fall while in London trying to line up financing to buy his old newspaper, the Telegraph. He has told friends that Bezos turned him down, saying that owning one money-losing publication was enough. Lewis has said Bezos then encouraged Lewis to speak to Patty Stonesifer, an Amazon board member who was running the Post while leading the search for a permanent CEO to succeed Fred Ryan.
The Post is one of many investments that require Bezos’ attention. He remains executive chair of Amazon, the company he founded that now has more than 1.5 million employees and annual revenues of more than $500 billion. He has invested in Uber, X (formerly Twitter), Business Insider, and Airbnb, as well as several private companies, including Blue Origin, an aerospace and defense company, and he has launched philanthropic organizations, including the Bezos Earth Fund.
Bezos and Stonesifer retained Sucherman, a well-regarded advisory firm to vet Lewis and other candidates for the job. Even if concerns about substance and style had surfaced, it is unlikely they would have deterred Bezos from hiring Lewis. Amazon has never shown an aversion to managers with sharp elbows.
Matt Murray, named as a new top editor of The Washington Post, pledged to lead a new era of innovation during a staff meeting Monday, June 3, 2024. The meeting that turned contentious when employees peppered publisher and CEO William Lewis with questions about the abrupt replacement of executive editor Sally Buzbee
Robert Miller/The Washington Post via Getty Images
When Bezos announced Lewis’ appointment several weeks later, he said he thought Lewis was “an exceptional, tenacious industry executive whose background in fierce, award-winning journalism makes him the right leader at the right time.”
While a renewed emphasis on service journalism and local news makes sense, separating service from news does not. The Post had a separate newsroom for digital for several years. It did little to improve its fortunes, and Marcus Brauchli, who served as executive editor from 2008 to 2012, made consolidating the newsroom a condition of his taking the job.
In my opinion, Matt Murray should be responsible for both newsrooms, while keeping the editorial and opinion pages under the control of David Shipley. Bezos should also review the recent decision to kill the Post’s Sunday Opinion section and the Post’s weekly magazine. While neither seemed attractive to advertisers, both were valued by readers accustomed to paying for content. While there may be a global audience for the Post’s coverage of politics, it is unclear what else readers outside the Beltway will pay for.
Bezos was right to keep his Post purchase separate from Amazon and he deserves credit for never asking the Post to do anything at Amazon’s behest. His desire to serve readers’ needs, however, would have benefited from Amazon’s experience with customers. Why not offer Amazon’s pharmacy and other services to Post subscribers?
If Bezos is serious about making The Washington Post profitable, he will need to reduce the number of journalists on staff from its current level of about 1,000 employees. I cannot say by how much, but it will be hard to reconcile the new number with Bezos’ stated commitment to quality.
Norman Pearlstine led newsrooms at The Wall Street Journal, Time Inc., when it published more than 150 titles, and The Los Angeles Times. He also held senior editorial positions at Bloomberg LP and Forbes and is the author of OFF THE RECORD: The Press, the Government, and The War over Anonymous Sources.
An 18-year-old who was shot and wounded in Northwest D.C.’s Tenleytown neighborhood on Thursday afternoon has died, authorities say.
Brady Flowers Jr., of Southwest, was the victim, police said in an update Saturday.
Flowers was found shot in the 4500 block of Wisconsin Avenue NW, behind the CVS store. Jackson-Reed High School and American University are nearby.
Flowers was rushed to a hospital with life-threatening injuries and pronounced dead a day later, police said.
Police said 10-15 teens were seen running after the gunshots.
An investigation is underway. Anyone with potentially relevant information is asked to contact police.
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Washington
Governor Moore Continues “Delivering for Maryland” Tour in Washington County, Highlighting Transportation Infrastructure, Economic Development, and Early Childhood Education
Updated:
ANNAPOLIS, MD — Governor Wes Moore today continued his statewide “Delivering for Maryland” tour with a series of engagements in Washington County, highlighting vital investments in local transportation infrastructure, manufacturing job growth, and early childhood education. The governor emphasized state contributions to modernize the Hagerstown Regional Airport, toured the state-of-the-art Hitachi Rail facility, and celebrated the opening of a new child care center in the South End of Hagerstown funded by the administration’s historic ENOUGH Initiative.
“From investing $1.5 million to update Hagerstown Regional Airport’s aging control tower to supporting 1,300 jobs at Hitachi Rail, the Moore-Miller administration is delivering for Hagerstown, Washington County, and Western Maryland,” said Gov. Moore. “Through our administration’s ENOUGH Initiative partnerships and investments, we’ve tripled child care capacity in the South End of Hagerstown — because no parents should be forced to pick between staying in the workforce or securing quality care for their kids.”
The governor began the day at the Hagerstown Regional Airport, touring the Air Traffic Control Tower and airport grounds. During the visit, Governor Moore highlighted the State’s $1.5 million Fiscal Year 2027 investment to complete the design for a critical replacement of the airport’s aging air traffic control facility. As a primary airport in the Maryland Aviation System Plan, the Hagerstown Regional Airport is a vital economic engine for Washington County, supporting more than 1,800 jobs and generating over $140 million in local business revenue.
Following the airport tour, Governor Moore visited the Hitachi Rail STS facility alongside Congresswoman April McClain Delaney, Senator Mike McKay, Senator Paul Corderman and state transportation leaders. The governor toured the factory floor and rode a test train to observe the manufacturing process. Opened in September 2025 with the support of a $1.6 million state conditional loan, the 307,000-square-foot, carbon-neutral facility is a $100 million capital investment by Hitachi. The factory supports 1,300 jobs — including 460 newly created jobs — and is actively manufacturing railcars for both the Maryland Transit Administration and the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority.
“Hitachi Rail has built a cutting-edge model for advanced manufacturing here in Western Maryland which is focused on delivering clean, safe, efficient regional transportation across our state and the rest of the country,” said Congresswoman April McClain Delaney. “This facility is powered by Maryland’s second-to-none workforce and world-class innovation environment. I’m proud to work with Governor Moore and our public, private, and philanthropic partners to drive global investment that supports jobs and economic growth along our I-270 Tech Corridor.”
Governor Moore concluded the day at the Children’s Learning and Empowerment Center in the South End of Hagerstown, where he met with parents, children, and community leaders. During the visit, the Governor highlighted the administration’s ENOUGH Initiative, which provided critical support for the center’s opening. The new facility is a major win for the community, tripling local childcare capacity with 24 new slots and generating six new early childhood education jobs.
The Children’s Learning and Empowerment Center’s opening was accelerated by a $100,000 investment from San Mar Family & Community Services, the ENOUGH grantee in Hagerstown. ENOUGH grant funding was also supplemented by a $100,000 philanthropic contribution from the Bainum Family Foundation — a member of the ENOUGH Alliance — to complete necessary facility upgrades. The center’s completion underscores the strength of the ENOUGH Initiative’s public-private partnerships to deliver on community priorities and work towards ending child poverty.
Governor Moore’s visit to Washington County follows the third stop of his “Delivering for Maryland” tour in Montgomery County, where he marked a historic milestone by installing the final segment of rail for the Purple Line. This installation completes the 16.2-mile light rail corridor connecting Bethesda and New Carrollton, with passenger service expected to begin in late 2027. The governor also visited Max’s Best Ice Cream in Bethesda, a local business dedicated to creating meaningful employment opportunities for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities through the Best Buddies Jobs program.
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A man charged with attacking the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner is seeking to disqualify top justice department officials from direct involvement in prosecuting him because they could be considered victims or witnesses in the case, creating a potential conflict of interest.
The acting attorney general, Todd Blanche, and US attorney Jeanine Pirro were attending the 25 April event at the Washington Hilton hotel when Cole Tomas Allen allegedly ran through a security checkpoint and fired a shotgun at a Secret Service officer.
In a court filing late on Thursday, Allen’s attorneys argued that it created at least the appearance of a conflict of interest for Blanche and Pirro to be making any prosecutorial decisions in the case.
“As this case proceeds closer to trial, the country and the world will continue to wonder – how can the American justice system permit a victim to prosecute a criminal defendant in a case involving them?” defense attorneys Eugene Ohm and Tezira Abe wrote.
Ohm and Abe, who are assistant federal public defenders, suggested that the appointment of a special prosecutor might be warranted. They urged US district judge Trevor McFadden, a Trump nominee assigned to Allen’s case, to disqualify Pirro, Blanche and possibly other justice department officials from direct involvement in the investigation and prosecution.
“Both heard gunshots, which presumably forced them to duck below the tables with the rest of the occupants. They were quickly evacuated. Shortly thereafter, they learned that law enforcement believed the target was certain administration officials,” Ohm and Abe wrote.
Pirro said her office would respond to the defense lawyers’ arguments in its own court filing.
“We will not tolerate people who come to the District of Columbia to engage in antidemocratic acts of political violence; and we will prosecute all such acts to the fullest extent of the law,” Pirro said in a statement.
Allen is scheduled to be arraigned on Monday on further charges in an indictment handed up Tuesday by a grand jury in Washington.
The charges include attempting to assassinate Donald Trump, who is a longtime friend of Pirro. Blanche served as a personal attorney for Trump before joining the justice department last year. Blanche, through a spokesperson, referred a request for comment to Pirro’s office. Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, is also charged with assaulting a federal officer with a deadly weapon and two additional firearms counts.
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