Eventually, Just Bob Woodward Will Be Left

It appears that big name reporters and pundits are bailing from the Washington Post in large numbers.

I'm not surprised.

The senior management of the Post since Bezos bought the paper out is even hactular than its 2nd worst in the nation OP/ED page was under the late and unlamented Fred Hiatt. (The OP/Ed department remains the 2nd worst BTW)

All things considered (Pun not intended) it's no wonder that people who can get out are getting out:

If ever there was a time for The Washington Post to thrive, a second Donald Trump administration is it. But the legacy newspaper, whose tagline became “Democracy Dies in Darkness” during Trump’s first term, is instead seeing some of its most recognizable and longest tenured journalists heading for the door.

Since September, at least 22 reporters and editors have left. Some are starting Substacks; others are fleeing to the Post’s direct competitors. Many are quitting out of principle.

The latest mass exodus doesn’t include the 240 reporters and other staff who took voluntary buyouts in October 2023, and the 100 marketing and business employees who were laid off earlier this month.

So far, the roster of talent rushing for the exit includes Ann Telnaes and ​Amanda Katz (left to start their respective Substacks); Jennifer Rubin (quit and founded The Contrarian); Leigh Ann Caldwell (went to Puck); Devlin Barrett, Tyler Pager, Peter Wallsten, Matea Gold, Stephen Smith, and Rosalind Helderman (all went to the The New York Times); Ashley Parker, Michael Scherer, Shane Harris, Griff Witte, and Danielle Allen (all left for The Atlantic); Josh Dawsey (quit for The Wall Street Journal); Tracy Jan and Hannah Allam (went to ProPublica); Tara Bahrampour (quit to work for the OpEd Project); Charles Lane (quit for The Free Press); Tim Elfrink and Philip Rucker (both left for CNN); and Mary Jo Murphy simply walked away.

“Predictably, the paper is leaching talent,” Murphy wrote, in a condemnation of the Post after announcing her departure.

………

That list doesn’t include Molly Roberts, Mili Mitra, David Hoffman, and Robert Kagan, all of whom resigned from the Post Editorial Board last fall. Only Kagan left the paper entirely and is joining The Atlantic.

I would note that some of the people here, Jennifer Rubin, Robert Kagan, and Charles Lane in particular, are truly awful at what they do, but they are

There’s no single reason for the stampede for the exit. But many are related to the erosion of the paper’s editorial independence by the two men at the top: billionaire owner Jeff Bezos and his handpicked publisher and CEO Will Lewis.

Also the full time return to office mandate, but I think that the goal with that action is to get people to leave.

If you read further on, you will note that local coverage is being gutted as well.

My theory is that Jeff Bezos does not care one whit about journalism, nor does he care about the traditions of the Post.  His interest is in deriving benefit from its rapidly dwindling reputation, which at this point means sucking up to Trump. 

I think that paper has already, or will shortly, pass the point where it it a national news institution.  It is simply too compromised.

The same could be said by the nepo-baby run New York Times, but that is another incoherent rant.