“That the man who will now lead politics coverage from the premier paper in our nation’s capital would do so is a red flag. Hung upside down.” –Drew Magary, SFGate, June 6, 2024
Major shakeup at WaPo.
From SFGate: “The Washington Post is about to embrace the darkness”
“It’s easy to execute a news dump when you’re one of the scant few remaining places that bother to properly cover news at all. Such was the case earlier this week at Jeff Bezos’ Washington Post, when executive editor Sally Buzbee — who had replaced venerated former news chief Marty Baron — was unceremoniously forced out by Post leadership after just three years at the helm. The news that Buzbee was given the gate arrived via a companywide email late Sunday night, seemingly without much in the way of advance notice down the masthead: Many of Buzbee’s closest colleagues were caught off guard by the move, Vanity Fair reported, as were the rank and file.
“By the time all of those groups had learned of the regime change, it was too late for them to do anything about it. And when Post reporters demanded answers, CEO Will Lewis gave them all of the wrong ones at an all-hands meeting the following morning…
“All reporters there were allowed to know was that their CEO had settled on two men that, by sheer coincidence, happened to be his friends: Matt Murray (who will serve as interim editor) and Robert Winnett (who will assume the job permanently after the election). Not only are all three of these men as white as a block of Monterey Jack, they also happen to have deep roots in upscale conservative media. Lewis and Murray both did long stints with Rupert Murdoch, with Lewis running News Corp’s Dow Jones and Murray coming over from the Wall Street Journal. As for Winnett, he currently runs England’s Daily Telegraph, purveyor of such fine op-ed pieces as, “No one ever says it, but in many ways global warming will be a good thing….
“The fact that he called out Hunter Biden — the “but her emails!” of this election cycle — as a vital news story is even more ominous. Also, Lewis is British. NEVER trust a British media executive.”
One person did approve of the changes, “rightwing nationalist and Trump ally Steve Bannon, who told the Guardian he (Winnett) was ‘a great pick to make the fucking thing more relevant and readable’”.
Yeah, the Guardian prints that now.
Bannon reports to prison July 1.
Gender Desk 