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UNITED STATESImmediate departure of Washington Post CEO
After the brutal dismissal of 300 journalists, Will Lewis announces that his time is over.
Jeff D’Onofrio remplace Will Lewis.
Getty Images via AFPThe “Washington Post” announced on Saturday the immediate departure of its general director and publishing director Will Lewis, a few days after a vast plan of job cuts in this pillar of American journalism owned by Jeff Bezos.
The announcement of a plan to cut around 300 journalists out of 800 on Wednesday created a shock, in a context of rapprochement between newspaper owner and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Donald Trump, a president who has attacked the traditional press since his return to power.
In an email addressed to staff and revealed on social networks by one of the daily’s journalists, Will Lewis declared that “after two years of transformation of the Washington Post, it is the right time” for him to “step aside”. He is replaced immediately by Jeff D’Onofrio, financial director of the “Washington Post” since last year, the newspaper announced.
The British Will Lewis was appointed with the mission of redressing the historic daily newspaper. The Washington Post, which has to its credit the revelation of the Watergate scandal and multiple Pulitzer Prizes, has been in crisis for several years.
During Donald Trump’s first term, the newspaper did rather well thanks to its coverage deemed uncompromising. But when the Republican billionaire left the White House, reader interest waned and the results began to plummet. The newspaper has been losing money for several years, according to the press.
It suffered a hemorrhage of subscribers when its management refused to take sides before the 2024 presidential election, won by Donald Trump.
Drastic cuts
“Under my leadership, difficult decisions have been made to ensure a sustainable future for The Post so that it can deliver high-quality, non-partisan news to millions of customers every day for many years to come,” said Will Lewis.
Many of the foreign correspondents, including all of those covering the Middle East as well as those in Russia and Ukraine, have been fired. Sports, books, podcasts, local pages and infographics services are also particularly affected, or even almost completely eliminated.
(afp)
