The Washington Post has published an article detailing recent leadership changes under Jeff Bezos, including the hiring of former Murdoch executives and a shift toward "creator-style" content.
According to The Washington Post, Bezos appointed Will Lewis, a former executive at Rupert Murdoch’s News UK, as publisher and CEO in late 2023. This move signaled a cultural shift within the newsroom. Lewis subsequently hired other associates from Murdoch's circle, including Executive Editor Matt Murray. These appointments have prompted pushback from veteran staff who accuse leadership of prioritizing branding and "Ventures" content—such as lifestyle and influencer-style journalism—over traditional reporting. Critics from outlets like Politico, Vanity Fair, and The Columbia Journalism Review argue that these changes are less about journalistic reform and more about extending Bezos’s centralized corporate power.
The New York Times reports that Bezos aims to expand The Washington Post’s subscriber base from 2.5 million to 100 million, surpassing competitors like The New York Times itself, which currently has around 10 million subscribers. To achieve this goal, Bezos is pursuing unconventional strategies, including discussions about repurposing content from other outlets and developing new revenue streams tied to "creator-style" media. These plans reportedly resemble Amazon’s expansion tactics in retail, raising concerns that monopolistic practices may be introduced into American journalism.
ProPublica highlights that Amazon, owned by Bezos, has been significantly involved in Pentagon contracting through cloud services. In 2022, Amazon was awarded a share of the $9 billion Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability (JWCC) contract alongside Google, Microsoft, and Oracle. Analysts express concern over the convergence of Bezos’s media ownership with his e-commerce dominance and Pentagon-linked cloud computing capabilities, suggesting it could lead to disproportionate influence over public opinion and national security.
According to its corporate profile, The Washington Post is a daily American newspaper founded in 1877 and acquired by Jeff Bezos in 2013 through his private firm Nash Holdings. The paper has won more than 70 Pulitzer Prizes and is considered one of the most influential news organizations in the United States. Its mission is to provide in-depth reporting that "shines a light on government and holds power to account," though critics question how Bezos’s ownership might affect its editorial independence.
