CNN
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Jeff Bezos, the billionaire proprietor of The Washington Publish, broke his silence Tuesday on the mounting turmoil inside his newspaper, expressing assist for sustaining excessive requirements on the storied publication as questions swirl over the moral integrity of its new writer, Will Lewis.
“I do know you’ve already heard this from Will, however I wished to additionally weigh in immediately: the journalistic requirements and ethics at The Publish is not going to change,” Bezos stated in an e-mail to high newsroom leaders, signaling assist for Lewis, although not explicitly.
Bezos added within the memo, which was obtained by CNN, that “it could’t be enterprise as common” at The Publish, which has been tormented by monetary and viewers woes.
“The world is evolving quickly and we do want to vary as a enterprise. Together with your assist, we’ll do this and lead this nice establishment into the long run,” Bezos wrote. “However, because the newsroom leaders who’ve been shaping and guiding our protection, you additionally know our requirements at The Publish have at all times been very excessive. That may’t change — and it gained’t.”
“You could have my full dedication on sustaining the standard, ethics, and requirements all of us consider in,” Bezos added.
The memo to The Publish’s high personnel comes after critical questions had been raised about Lewis, who has been the topic of a number of explosive studies in latest days that elevate questions over whether or not he’s dedicated to the newspaper’s rigorous journalistic requirements.
The New York Instances reported over the weekend that, in his Fleet Road days, Lewis assigned an article that was based mostly on stolen cellphone data. And The Publish itself reported in a 3,000-word front page story Sunday {that a} “thief” who used misleading ways to acquire personal materials had ties with Lewis’ hand-picked incoming high editor, Robert Winnett.
The tales, which landed like a one-two punch in The Publish’s newsroom, adopted studies that Lewis tried to suppress tales at The Publish and NPR about his position cleansing up Rupert Murdoch’s UK cellphone hacking scandal, when he served as a lieutenant to the right-wing media mogul.
As an alternative of deescalating the state of affairs, Lewis initially lashed out, going as far as to criticize his personal media reporters and launch an on-the-record assault aimed on the well-respected NPR media correspondent David Folkenflik, who he known as an “activist, not a journalist.”
Lewis later despatched a memo to staffers, putting a notably totally different, non-confrontational tone. However the notice didn’t quell the rising anger inside The Publish.
Inside The Publish’s newsroom, morale has plunged in latest months as alarmed staffers specific frustration over Lewis’ conduct and worries over the long run path of the newspaper below his management.
Interviews with almost a dozen Publish staffers and others accustomed to the interior dynamics of the newspaper this week revealed a workforce that has grown more and more dismayed by the state of affairs, with some looking for work elsewhere.
Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, the professor and senior affiliate dean for management research on the Yale College of Administration, advised CNN on Monday that Bezos ought to dismiss Lewis.
Sonnenfeld, who has suggested US presidents and scores of company leaders, stated that if he had been advising Bezos, he would inform him Lewis has “misplaced legitimacy to guide” and it’s time to “clear the home.”
“This can be a tragic meltdown of the conscience of American journalism bringing disgrace to the Katharine Graham, Ben Bradlee, Marty Baron legacy of collaboration, braveness, and integrity,” Sonnenfeld stated. “Bezos should recruit an achieved, skilled editor whom journalists admire and belief.”