Maybe a Bunch of White Guys Can Save the Washington Post

Washington Post executive editor Sally Buzbee abruptly left the failing newspaper on Sunday, and publisher Will Lewis says he "can’t sugarcoat" the paper's troubles any longer. Big changes are coming, and fans of "diversity" won't be very happy with them.

News began to leak out of Buzbee's exit Sunday night and the New York Times was preparing a story, so Lewis got out in front of it with an email to the paper's staff. "We found out on a Sunday evening in an email. That’s not how well-functioning companies announce major personnel news,” one staffer told Vanity Fair's Charlotte Klein.

But as Don Surber dryly noted, "Her resignation was so sudden and unexpected that Jeff Bezos, owner of the paper, had already lined up a temporary replacement until the permanent one can take over after the election."

Buzbee had only been in the exec editor's chair for three years, coming over from a long tenure at the Associated Press. Lewis has only been CEO since January. Perhaps not so shockingly, Buzbee appears to be maintaining radio silence since her weekend departure, and Lewis hasn't had anything direct to say about it. Did she resign voluntarily or was she voluntold?

Sunday's night's notorious email was followed by an all-hands meeting on Monday.

"We are losing large amounts of money. Your audience has halved in recent years. People are not reading your stuff. I can’t sugarcoat it anymore," Lewis said at the meeting.

Lewis also told his staff that Buzbee will be temporarily replaced by Matt Murray, former editor-in-chief of the Wall Street Journal. After the election, the Telegraph's Robert Winnett will take over in the new role of editor.

Which brings us to this choice paragraph from Vanity Fair's (paywalled) writeup of what happened next:

“Everyone was pretty shocked with your email last night,” one reporter said at the meeting, according to a source present. The reporter suggested that “the most cynical interpretation sort of feels like you chose two of your buddies to come in and help run the Post, and we now have four white men running three newsrooms,” and expressed surprise at this development given Lewis’s prior commitments to diversity.

According to Vanity Fair's source, Lewis admitted that the paper's diversity is "not great," but that he also promised to do better.

Diversity now, diversity tomorrow, diversity forever...

...profits and readership? Whenever.

It seems like only two weeks ago [it was only two weeks ago, Steve —Editor] that Lewis warned WaPo staff, "To be direct, we are in a hole, and we have been for some time." The paper has lost half its readership since 2020 and $77 million just last year.

Former exec editor Marty Baron retired just as WaPo began losing steam (and oodles of money), so you can't fault his timing. Baron oversaw the rapid expansion of the newsroom and 10 Pulitzer prizes during his eight years at the helm. Under Buzbee, the newsroom has seen massive layoffs.

So maybe a bunch of white guys can save the paper. Maybe not. But it does appear as though Lewis might be prioritizing ability over the false diversity of many-colored/many-gendered groupthink, regardless of race or sex.

And if that fails? They'll always have Orange Man Bad — for four more years, tops.