Washington Post CEO resigns following mass layoffs

The Washington Post has announced that its chief executive, William Lewis, is stepping down, days after overseeing mass layoffs at the newspaper.

In a message to staff, Lewis said the timing was right for his departure and that “difficult decisions” had been taken to secure the paper’s future. On Wednesday, the Post revealed plans to cut around a third of its workforce, sharply reducing its coverage of sport and international news.

The cuts were condemned by many journalists and drew criticism of the paper’s billionaire owner, Jeff Bezos. Executive editor Matt Murray defended the move, saying it would bring “stability”. The Post said Jeff D’Onofrio, who joined last year as chief financial officer, will serve as acting publisher and chief executive.

Lewis, a former Dow Jones chief executive and publisher of the Wall Street Journal, was appointed to lead the Washington Post in 2023. He has faced sustained criticism from subscribers and staff as he sought to reverse mounting financial losses.

Hundreds of people protested outside the newspaper’s headquarters in Washington DC on Thursday following the layoffs, which included the entire Middle East bureau and the Kyiv-based Ukraine correspondent.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to support international staff hired locally or through subsidiaries outside the US, who are not covered by protections negotiated by the Washington Post Guild. Organisers said some affected employees face the sudden loss of housing, visas or benefits.

“Among those laid off are reporters in war zones living without electricity, breaking news hub reporters and editors in Seoul and London, correspondents who uprooted their lives to move overseas just months ago, and indispensable local staff,” organiser Michelle Lee wrote. “They are a dedicated, talented, multilingual, brilliant bunch. They don’t deserve this.”

By Sunday evening, the fund had raised more than $180,000 (£130,000) of its $200,000 target. A separate GoFundMe organised by the guild for US staff has raised more than $500,000.

Marty Baron, the Post’s executive editor until 2021, described the cuts as “among the darkest days in the history of one of the world’s greatest news organisations”.

Lewis’s departure marks the latest upheaval for the paper, which has faced repeated staff reductions and controversial editorial decisions in recent years. Shortly before the 2024 US presidential election, Bezos broke with decades of tradition by deciding the Post would not endorse a candidate, a move that prompted widespread criticism and the loss of tens of thousands of subscribers.

The newspaper had endorsed a candidate in most presidential elections since the 1970s, all of them Democrats. Meanwhile, the opinion editor resigned in February last year after Bezos said the comment section would focus on “personal liberties and free markets”, adding that opposing views would not be published. Bezos acquired the Washington Post in 2013.