Washington Post publisher Will Lewis says he's stepping down, days after big layoffs at the paper

"Washington Post publisher Will Lewis said Saturday that he's stepping down, ending a troubled tenure three days after the newspaper said that it was laying off one-third of its staff. Lewis announced his departure in a two-paragraph email to the newspaper's staff, saying that after two years of transformation, now is the right time for me to step aside. The Post's chief financial officer, Jeff D'Onofrio, was appointed temporary publisher."

"While anticipated, the cutbacks were deeper than expected, resulting in the shutdown of the Post's renowned sports section, the elimination of its photography staff and sharp reductions in personnel responsible for coverage of metropolitan Washington and overseas. They came on top of widespread talent defections in recent years at the newspaper, which lost tens of thousands of subscribers following Bezos' order late in the 2024 presidential campaign pulling back from a planned endorsement of Kamala Harris,"

"Martin Baron, the Post's first editor under Bezos, condemned his former boss this week for attempting to curry favor with President Donald Trump and called what has happened at the newspaper a case study in near-instant, self-inflicted brand destruction. The British-born Lewis was a former top executive at The Wall Street Journal before taking over at The Post in January 2024."

Will Lewis stepped down as publisher after two years, saying now is the right time to step aside and naming CFO Jeff D'Onofrio interim publisher. The newspaper announced layoffs affecting one-third of staff, shutting the sports section, eliminating the photography staff, and cutting metropolitan Washington and overseas coverage. The cutbacks followed widespread talent defections and the loss of tens of thousands of subscribers after Bezos pulled back from a planned 2024 endorsement and shifted the opinion section. The tenure included a failed reorganization, departures of top editors, and ethical questions about paying for information.

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