Sally Buzbee, the executive editor of The Washington Post, resigned abruptly on Sunday. Her departure comes after weeks of escalating tension with the company’s chief executive, Will Lewis.
The friction between Buzbee and Lewis reached a peak in mid-May. Sources say they argued over an article about a British hacking scandal involving Prince Harry and other plaintiffs, which implicated some of Rupert Murdoch’s tabloids.
Buzbee had informed Lewis that the WaPo newsroom intended to cover a judge’s upcoming ruling in this long-running legal battle. As part of the expected ruling, the judge could have allowed the plaintiffs to add Lewis’s name to a list of executives accused of concealing evidence of hacking at the newspapers.
Lewis argued that the case did not merit coverage and expressed this to Buzbee. Despite his objections, Buzbee decided to move forward with the article. The judge ruled on May 21 that Lewis could indeed be added to the case. Buzbee published the article as planned.
Lewis was already unhappy with WaPo, telling staff 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.” However, the newspaper’s delusional team simply started complaining about “four white men running three newsrooms” and wondering if a “woman of color” would be chosen to replace Buzbee.
Lewis has installed Matt Murray, former Editor-in-Chief of the Wall Street Journal, for the time being, and brought on British investigative reporter Robert Winnett, of The Telegraph Media Group, to oversee core coverage.
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