A farewell party held in the backyard of The Washington Post's recently retired editor-in-chief, Sally Busbee, began to disperse Sunday evening, the same day the paper published a critical investigative piece about her successor.
Headline: “The Post's incoming editor has ties to self-described 'thief' who claims he was behind his reporting.”
The article focused on Robert Winnett, the British journalist who is set to take over the Washington Post's newsroom in November, and uncovered his ties to private investigators who used unethical media practices to secure big exclusives. Winnett declined to comment to Washington Post reporters, the article noted, the same ones he will manage in the coming months.
The party was a farewell throw by Patty Stonesifer, who served as interim CEO of the Washington Post last year and is a close ally of Amazon founder and Post owner Jeff Bezos. As part of her role, Ms. Stonesifer helped hire new CEO Will Lewis, who oversaw the editorial restructuring that led to Mr. Buzbee's resignation.
But the upcoming story created an awkward atmosphere at times at the party, attended by senior editors and executives at Mr. Stonesifer's home in Washington's upscale Cleveland Park neighborhood, according to two people familiar with the event.
It was just the latest uneasy moment for Post staff, who in recent weeks have been reeling from a series of revelations about Messrs. Lewis and Winnett, who are charged with turning around America's top news organization. The day before the party, The New York Times reported that Messrs. Lewis and Winnett had used stolen records in newspaper articles early in their careers in Britain. The Post declined to comment on the story.
At the party, Stonesifer encouraged Buzbee to speak, and he stood up and gave a speech, three people who were there said.
Buzbee said The Post stands by its commitment to holding powerful people and institutions accountable, especially when that is difficult — a comment that some partygoers said came across as a compliment to the Post's aggressive coverage of Lewis and Winnett over the past two weeks.
The roughly 3,000-word investigative piece for Sunday's edition was edited with the help of former editor-in-chief Cameron Barr, who returned as a consultant to guide The Post's editorial efforts on biographical articles. Matt Murray, who is temporarily overseeing The Post's newsroom, told editors last week that he had recused himself from one of the Post's articles that directly mentioned him.
A Washington Post spokesman said the paper reported the story “independently, rigorously and impartially,” adding that Lewis had no involvement in the reporting.
“Given the perceived and potential conflicts of interest, we have asked our former senior editor, Cameron Barr, who will step down from that role in 2023 and is now on contract as senior deputy editor, to oversee this coverage,” the spokesperson said.
The Post's turmoil began earlier this month when Buzbee suddenly resigned and Lewis announced that he would be temporarily replaced by Murray, a former editor in chief of The Wall Street Journal. Lewis also announced a major restructuring of The Post's editorial organization, including a so-called third newsroom that would focus on social media, innovation and service journalism. The plan is for Murray to head the new division after the November election, with Winnett becoming editor of core news coverage.
Lewis, who took over as chief executive in January, is responsible for returning the paper to profitability after years of heavy losses. He has been candid with staff about the paper's financial difficulties, which have seen readership fall by 50% since 2020.
Days after Mr. Buzbee's departure, The Times reported that in the weeks before his resignation, he and Mr. Lewis had clashed over whether the Post should report on developments in a wiretapping case involving Mr. Lewis. Mr. Lewis has denied pressuring Mr. Buzbee. In his comments at the party on Sunday, Mr. Buzbee said he was proud of how he conducted himself in his final weeks at the paper.
The NPR reporter also revealed that Lewis had previously offered to give an exclusive interview to the reporter if he would stop covering the phone-tapping scandal. Lewis said he had spoken to the reporter privately and described him as “an activist, not a journalist.”
The ongoing controversy has many Post reporters shaken, with some debating whether Messrs. Lewis and Winnett share the same ethics, according to three people familiar with the matter.
On Monday, Mr. Murray tried to motivate The Post's editors during a morning meeting, praising the paper's story about Ms. Winnett and encouraging them to stay focused on journalism, according to two people with knowledge of his remarks.
Mr. Lewis has already made some changes to his plans. This week he was due to attend the annual Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, a glitzy gathering in the south of France where advertisers and media executives mingle over rosé.
As part of the visit, Lewis was planning a “very lavish dinner” at the fine dining restaurant La Colombe d'Or, which he told select attendees would be the invite of the year and “set the tone for the week ahead”.
On Sunday night, guests received a terse email: the dinner had been canceled.
