The Washington Post and Buzbee: Jeff Bezos’s Untimely Abrupt Decree-and-Announcement

At that time, Lewis had just been named publisher and CEO by Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos, but had not yet started. In several conversations, Lewis repeatedly — and heatedly —offered to give me an exclusive interview about the Post’s future, as long as I dropped the story about the allegations.

Buzbee did not recuse herself from the stories, which were overseen by Managing Editor Matea Gold, and drew upon reporters from three desks. Lewis did not block the story from running. He unexpectedly announced Buzbee’s departure on Sunday night, about three-and-a-half weeks after the longer story ran, along with a restructuring of the newsroom’s leadership structure.

Lewis has tried to head off coverage of him in ways that would be considered inappropriate by many U.S. journalists.

I wrote a comprehensive article in December based on new evidence from a London courtroom, which alleges that Lewis aided and abetted the cover up of a scandal related to criminal practices at Murdoch’s British tabloids. (Lewis has previously denied the allegations.)

However, in December, the spokesperson — who works directly for Lewis from the U.K. and has advised him since his days at the Wall Street Journal — confirmed to me that an explicit offer was on the table: drop the story, get the interview.

Covering up the Murdoch scandal with News UK, the St. Petersburg Times and the National Public Radio Research Association: A story of two journalists who left the Telegraph in 2008-2009

When the late former Post managing editor Eugene Patterson was publisher of the St. Petersburg Times, he insisted the newspaper report his arrest for driving under the influence of alcohol on the front page. Similarly, NPR has reported independently on controversies and the travails of its own leaders.

Lewis was initially recruited away from the Telegraph to join Murdoch’s British newspaper wing, now called News UK. Lewis was assigned to help address the scandal in Murdoch’s company.

The two journalists working at the Telegraph paid a source over one hundred thousand dollars to create a database about inappropriate expenses of British lawmakers. It was hailed as a huge story, leading to resignations and reforms. It violated the major U.S. news outlets’ ethics codes against paying sources.

Their tabloids were accused of committing crimes “on an industrial scale,” as former Prime Minister Gordon Brown put it, including hacking into the voicemails and emails of both celebrities and private citizens. The scandal erupted into public view in 2011 when it became clear that the targets of the hacking included the victims of violent crime and veterans killed in combat.

Instead, attorneys for Prince Harry, Hollywood star Hugh Grant and several former British government officials allege that Lewis stood at the center of an effort to cover up company executives’ knowledge of those practices. Lewis is accused of giving permission for the deletion of millions of emails after the company had been asked to retain records for its investigation.

Lewis denies all wrongdoing but has declined further comment. He is not a named defendant in any civil claims, nor has he been charged with any criminality. His actions remain in dispute as part of ongoing cases involving Harry and others.

To date, the Murdoch media empire has paid an estimated $1.5 billion in settlements and costs associated with the hacking scandal. Late last fall, it made a six-figure payment to former Cabinet Minister Chris Huhne, whose scandals had been intensely covered by the tabloids. More recently, News UK settled with Grant, who said he accepted it for “an enormous sum of money” and to avoid paying close to £10 million in legal fees.