CNN
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Two Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists at The Washington Publish went on the report late Wednesday, calling for management change on the storied newspaper as questions swirl over the integrity of its new writer and chief government, Will Lewis.
“I don’t know a single particular person on the Publish who thinks the present scenario with the writer and supposed new editor can stand,” David Maraniss, an affiliate editor who has labored at The Publish for almost 5 a long time and gained two Pulitzer Prizes on the newspaper, wrote in a candid Fb put up. “There may be a number of, however very only a few.”
Maraniss additionally zinged Jeff Bezos, the billionaire proprietor of The Publish who put in Lewis, writing that he’s “not of and for the Publish or he would perceive.”
Scott Higham, one other Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist at The Publish, echoed Maraniss’ name for Lewis to exit the newspaper.
“Will Lewis must step down for the great of The Publish and the general public,” Higham replied in a touch upon Maraniss’ put up. “He has misplaced the newsroom and can by no means win it again.”
Spokespersons for Bezos and The Publish didn’t instantly remark.
The backlash from The Publish’s journalists comes after critical questions have been raised about Lewis, who has been the topic of a number of explosive studies in current days scrutinizing his journalistic integrity.
The New York Instances reported over the weekend that, in his Fleet Avenue days, Lewis assigned an article that was based mostly on stolen cellphone information. And The Publish itself reported in a 3,000-word front page expose Sunday {that a} “thief” who used misleading ways to acquire non-public 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 function cleansing up Rupert Murdoch’s UK cellphone hacking scandal, when he served as a lieutenant to the right-wing media mogul.
In response to the studies earlier this month, Lewis initially lashed out, criticizing his personal media reporters and attacking veteran NPR media correspondent David Folkenflik, who he known as an “activist, not a journalist.” Lewis later despatched a memo to staffers, putting a notably completely different tone. However the observe did not quell the rising disapproval inside the newspaper’s ranks.
Inside The Publish’s newsroom, morale has plunged as staffers specific alarm over Lewis’ conduct and worries over the long run path of the newspaper beneath his management. Interviews with almost a dozen Publish staffers and others accustomed to the interior dynamics of the newspaper final week revealed a workforce that has grown more and more dismayed by the scenario, with some looking for work elsewhere.
Sensing the turmoil, Bezos on Tuesday sent a memo to high leaders at The Publish, expressing assist for sustaining excessive journalistic requirements at his newspaper.
“You’ve my full dedication on sustaining the standard, ethics, and requirements all of us imagine in,” Bezos wrote.
However the memo did little to quell the rising rebel within the newsroom.
Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, the professor and senior affiliate dean for management research on the Yale College of Administration, informed CNN on Monday that Bezos ought to dismiss Lewis.
Sonnenfeld, who has suggested US presidents and scores of company leaders, stated that if he have been advising Bezos, he would inform him Lewis has “misplaced legitimacy to steer” and it’s time to “clear the home.”
“It is 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.”