Our own Sam Janney did a VIP post earlier this week on the shakeup at the Washington Post. “People are not reading your stuff,” CEO and publisher William Lewis told reporters.
this is “you look fat in that dress” for journalists pic.twitter.com/9sMSf2c9Ny
— Mike Benz (@MikeBenzCyber) June 4, 2024
“People aren’t reading your stuff”… man that would absolutely gut me… but then I’m more of a writer than I am an activist https://t.co/RMqXMzEjMh
— George MF Washington (@GMFWashington) June 5, 2024
Guardian columnist Margaret Sullivan had some advice for the paper:
If the Washington Post is to fly again, its journalists must share the cockpit. … New from me https://t.co/MQhwdma3Hl
— Margaret Sullivan (@Sulliview) June 4, 2024
Not sure if you remember the news but Washington doesn’t have a great track record when political radicals storm the cockpit. https://t.co/deeATjj2jw pic.twitter.com/VvlbS5Lkur
— Jarvis (@jarvis_best) June 4, 2024
Sullivan writes:
Lewis made several heavy-handed moves that have alienated and angered an extraordinarily talented journalistic staff. He abruptly forced out Sally Buzbee, who had succeeded Baron to become the paper’s first female editor, and immediately replaced her with two of his former colleagues, even as he revealed his plans for a radically restructured newsroom. (The former Wall Street Journal editor-in-chief Matt Murray and former Telegraph deputy editor Rob Winnett will lead two adjacent Post newsrooms, including a new one dedicated to “service and social media journalism”; and then they’ll switch roles after November’s election. Yes, it’s all very weird.)
Taken by surprise and baffled, the staff reacted angrily and with skepticism. At a “town hall” meeting on Monday, the prominent politics reporter Ashley Parker challenged Lewis’s decision-making, earning applause from her colleagues. “Now we have four white men running the newsroom,” she said, according to the news non-profit Notus. (She was referring to Lewis himself, Murray, Winnett and David Shipley, the opinion section editor; it’s worth noting that, although the Post considers itself a global, not local, newsroom, more than 40% of Washington DC residents are Black.)
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Sullivan continues:
I worked at the Post as media columnist from 2016 to 2022. I know my former colleagues to be top-flight and much of their journalism to be essential. They are also nimble and, in general, not resistant to change. They fully understand that we’re in a challenging new era. But they also are tough-minded journalists who demand to be treated with transparency and honesty and respect.
Journalists demand way more respect than they’ve earned.
WaPo goes woke, loses 50% of its audience and $77 million in a year. Brings in former NewsCorp executives—the dreaded white males—to right the ship. The journos immediately start screaming “racism” and “sexism.”
Meanwhile, we are popping popcorn. Let them fight! https://t.co/oNcOc2Oupk
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) June 4, 2024
Turns out, nobody wants to read anything written by radical liberal women and dorky liberal dudes
— Maleka Sadê Davis (@MalekaSade) June 4, 2024
He tells them that they lost half their audience and are consistently losing money and their concern is making sure new hires meet a gender and racial quota.
That should tell you everything you need to know about the priorities of some of the activists dominating that newsroom… https://t.co/1UDWoQt31T
— AG (@AGHamilton29) June 4, 2024
“Democracy Dies in DEI”
— Richard H. Ebright (@R_H_Ebright) June 5, 2024
It’s not 2020 anymore and apparently these are the last people to find out. And it’s freaking awesome.
— Hepzibah_Splurge (@hepsplurge) June 4, 2024
— Scott Lee (@OnClose) June 5, 2024
I hope they either get on board with the changes or get fired. WaPo is there to make money, not friends. Get over it.
— J9TX (@j9_atx) June 4, 2024
Couldn’t happen to a more deserving news organization! You reap what you sow though!
— Rob Robey (@RobertR62766660) June 5, 2024
Ah, so the Huffpost, Media Matters, Bloomberg strategy. How’s that working out for them?
— Tony Kinnett (@TheTonus) June 4, 2024
Hi @Sulliview I am wondering when the “lost 77 million and 50 percent of readers because journalists wrote unreadable activist pieces” comes into play?
— Chris McGowne (@cjmcgowne) June 4, 2024
Then they should buy it or start their own
— Dr Strangetweet 🍌 Or How I Learned To Love The RT (@lone_rides) June 4, 2024
Too little, too late. The time to do this was before it got out of hand. The fact that “journalists” couldn’t see it happening literally in front of their faces doesn’t bode well for their ability to identify and manage even the simplest of problems.
— Chris McKeever (@chrismckeever) June 5, 2024
I wouldn’t trust a journalist with my business any more than I would trust a politician with my business.
The only lesson here is that failure has consequences. They will learn.
— Blockchain Robber Baron (@TelcoinBaron) June 4, 2024
Turns out when all you write is stuff to appease progressives your audience is cut in half. You end up competing against the Atlantic and New Yorker.
— Ohio Hog Fan (@ohiomanblotter) June 4, 2024
Christopher Rufo notes when you can tell the Washington Post is serious about turning things around:
The obvious litmus test is the decision about Taylor Lorenz. If they are serious, the new management will immediately let her go; if they are not, they will find an excuse to keep her on.
Either way, it’s a great test case. We will see if losing half your audience and $77… https://t.co/z6EvAuJJ2Q
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) June 3, 2024
We will see if losing half your audience and $77 million a year gives executives enough incentive to finally say “no” to Longhouse-style hysteria, hypochondria, and manipulation.
Vice bankrupt. WaPo losing millions. NPR pink-slipping journos. NYT attacking Kendi. The realignment is happening fast. The George Floyd moment is over.
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) June 5, 2024
Our conditions for victory: Glenn Kessler learns to code; Joy Reid loses her wig collection in bankruptcy court; Taylor Lorenz sent to the Congo to mine cobalt.
The journos must be totally defeated.
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) June 5, 2024
And they refuse to see that they’ve done it to themselves.
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