As the Washington Post newsroom awaits the appointment of a new top editor, its acting news chief intervened to block an article about the departure of its second-highest-ranking editor, a contender for the position, according to several people with knowledge of events.
Managing Editor Matea Gold, a veteran of 11-and-a-half years at the Post who has built up deep loyalty among staffers, had been herself considered a top internal candidate to run the newsroom. According to associates, it became clear that Post Publisher and Chief Executive Will Lewis was poised to pass over her.
She is instead headed to be second-highest ranking leader of the New York Times Washington bureau, as the Times announced today.
The internal tensions over the selection of the Post's new executive editor are capping a series of crises for Lewis, including tensions over the paper's reporting on its own issues.
Acting editor says Post should not report on itself
On Saturday, Acting Executive Editor Matt Murray told editors that the paper should not cover itself, according to four people with knowledge.
This is not how the Post has handled past developments about itself or its leaders. Last year, it covered the retirement of Senior Managing Editor Cameron Barr and in 2015, it published an article about Managing Editor Kevin Merida's decision to leave for ESPN.
Murray did not respond to NPR's request for comment and Gold declined comment.
NPR spoke to nine people with ties to the Post for this article. They requested anonymity in order to speak candidly about sensitive internal matters at the paper.
A Washington Post Co. spokesperson declined to answer questions for this story, but said, "The Washington Post newsroom is editorially independent and operates in service of our community and national interest."
Murray previously worked under Lewis at the Wall Street Journal, where Lewis served as publisher and chief executive from 2014 to 2020.
Late last year, Post Owner Jeff Bezos announced Lewis would become publisher. He took the top post in January and appointed Murray in June, ostensibly to oversee a new innovation newsroom.
Murray was to run the core newsroom until a former colleague of Lewis's at the Telegraph arrived from the U.K. Those plans collapsed.
Murray has continued to run the Post's primary newsroom on an interim basis and remains in contention for the top editor's position permanently.
Gold is highly regarded inside the Post newsroom, especially as a stabilizing figure. In a social media post, Associate Editor and columnist Karen Tumulty called Gold "deeply respected and deeply beloved" there. Six colleagues tell NPR they believe Lewis's decision not to choose Gold helped push her into the arms of its leading competitor, compounding a sense of frustration internally.
Gold was not granted an interview with Bezos for the top position, according to colleagues. Beyond Murray, Clifford Levy, deputy publisher of the New York Times Co., Wirecutter and Athletic sites is believed to be in contention for the editor's job.
She is the latest in a series of significant departures from the paper, including former Executive Editor Sally Buzbee, whom Lewis sought to assign to a new role. She's now with Reuters. Reporters Shane Harris left for the Atlantic and Devlin Barrett for the Times.
The Post faces a series of challenges and crises
In recent years, the Post has endured a series of challenges and crises that have picked up pace under Lewis: deep financial losses, sharp job cuts, revelations that Lewis sought to pressure the Post not to cover questions of whether he was involved in covering up crimes more than a decade ago at Rupert Murdoch's British tabloids, and tough scrutiny of his own journalistic record in the U.K.
He had previously pressured NPR not to disclose fresh material supporting the allegations of a coverup in the Murdoch tabloid hacking scandal in London.
While the Post did not initially report the allegations raised by NPR, Gold oversaw the paper's later coverage of them, as well as Lewis' controversial past in British newspapers. Several colleagues say he was visibly cold and short with her in meetings with top editors. Barr, the retired former senior managing editor, was subsequently brought in to edit those stories with her.
Most recently, more than 250,000 digital subscribers formally canceled after owner Jeff Bezos killed a planned editorial endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris just days before Election Day. The figure represented more than a tenth of all digital subscribers. (There are about 128,000 daily print subscribers, according to the paper's most recently disclosed figures in September.)
Through Amazon and Blue Origin, Bezos's companies have billions of dollars worth of commerce involving the federal government. Last week Bezos told the Times he did not regret his decision on blocking the editorial and remained hopeful about President-elect Donald Trump's second administration, despite Trump's attacks on the press and the Post.
An experienced reporter on the Style desk, Manuel Roig-Franzia, had been assigned to write profiles of each of the likely candidates for the executive editor spot, including Murray and Gold. When he learned of Gold's departure, editors approved assigning Roig-Franzia to write a piece about her decision and her legacy at the Post.
Murray took responsibility for the decision not to have the Post cover this latest development about its leadership, despite the ramifications for the paper. An editor with whom he spoke told colleagues that Murray had not read the planned article on Gold but said to "pin it on me" if anyone asked why it did not run.
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