Robert Winnett Will No Longer Lead Washington Post As Top Editor
British journalist Robert Winnett will no longer be the editor of The Washington Post following ethical questions about his past work, it was reported Friday.
The decision was announced by Washington Post publisher Will Lewis to staff in a memo Friday morning, according to CNN and The New York Times.
“It is with regret that I share with you that Robert Winnett has withdrawn from the position of Editor at The Washington Post. Rob has my greatest respect and is an incredibly talented editor and journalist,” the memo read.
Lewis, who became publisher and CEO of the Post in January following his appointment by Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos, added that Winnett will continue to serve as deputy editor of the Daily Telegraph in London.
Lewis had tapped Winnett to take over the top editorial position during a shakeup earlier this month that saw the Post’s executive editor, Sally Buzbee, resign rather than accept a demotion.
Winnett had worked with Lewis at two British papers and served as a mentor to him, according to The Washington Post. But his past journalistic practices in the U.K. quickly launched scrutiny.
Multiple reports questioned Winnett’s involvement in a phone hacking scandal and articles where a source was paid for information, which is a practice that is more commonplace in England but shunned in the U.S. He was also accused of destroying evidence in a civil case related to the phone hacking matter, which he has denied.
Lewis’ journalistic ethics have also been called into question.
NPR media correspondent David Folkenflik accused Lewis earlier this month of offering an exclusive on his plans for the paper in exchange for him killing a story that detailed his own involvement in the British hacking scandal.
Lewis joined Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp in 2010 and has been accused of helping delete evidence while part of a committee that oversaw the company’s response to the scandal. Lewis has denied wrongdoing.
Folkenflik said Lewis “repeatedly — and heatedly” pushed him to accept the exclusive offer, which he ultimately turned down.
Lewis later slammed Folkenflik’s reporting in an email to a Post reporter while claiming that it was related to an “off-the-record conversation” they had before he joined the Post. Folkenflik denied that their conversation was entirely off the record.
Lewis further said Foklenflik’s reporting was based on a “non-story.”
