Will Lewis, the dashing British journalist and publishing executive, rode into the Washington Post ’s newsroom in January like a white knight. As the Post ’s new publisher, Sir Will—yes, he has a knighthood—quickly charmed the storied paper’s staff with self-deprecating wit and a firm grasp of the organization’s challenges. A new era seemed to be afoot.
Last month, Lewis began the first phases of an ambitious restructuring of the Post ‘s business and editorial operations. In little more than a week, the goodwill has dissipated . First, there was the stunning news that Lewis had pushed out the Post ’s editor , Sally Buzbee, smack in the middle of a presidential campaign.
Her replacement: two of Lewis’ former colleagues, neither of whom had ever worked at the Post . Then came stories from The New York Times , NPR , and the Post itself that suggested Lewis had tried to manipulate news reporting about his role in cleaning up the phone-hacking scandal at Rupert Murdoch’s British tabloids more than a dozen years ago (the scandal is the subject of an ongoing lawsuit; Prince Harry , and other plaintiffs, allege Lewis helped conceal evidence. Lewis has denied wrongdoing).
As he continues remodeling the Post —a project he’s dubbed “Build It”—Lewis has been hosting staff Q&As, known internally as “Say It” sessions. After last week’s events, here are a few things staff members might want to say and questions they might want to ask: 1. You issued a staf.
