Bezos’ ‘colossal blunder’ has set Washington Post back 10 years, Howard Kurtz says
Fox News' Howard Kurtz joined 'America's Newsroom' to discuss his take on Jeff Bezos' decision to not have The Washington Post endorse a presidential candidate in the 2024 race.
The Washington Post's in-house media critic sharply criticized the paper's new policy to avoid covering itself as the newsroom continues to face turmoil.
Erik Wemple, The Post's resident news industry guru, was flooded with questions from readers during Monday's live chat session about the ongoing drama plaguing the "Democracy Dies in Darkness" paper, including the recent resignation of Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Ann Telnaes after her bosses rejected her illustration depicting billionaire Post owner Jeff Bezos groveling to President-elect Donald Trump.
Wemple was asked directly why The Post hadn't covered Telnaes' exit from the paper.
"The Post has a long history of warts-and-all coverage of its internal matters. But there has been nothing from the newsrooms media desk about this matter — just an AP story that we posted to our website," Wemple responded. "I asked executive editor Matt Murray about the newspaper's evolving approach to its own workplace, and this is the response I got: ‘I did set a policy that broadly we should not cover ourselves. I have always felt that there are too many inherent conflicts of interest for organizations in that. Occasionally it is merited of course, but it is conflict-ridden. Most news orgs have the same or similar policies of course. I set this weeks ago, so there is nothing about it specifically tied to the cartoon.’"
WASHINGTON POST IN ‘DISARRAY’ AFTER CARTOONIST QUITS, STAFF EXODUS
Washington Post cartoonist Ann Telnaes resigned after the paper refused to publish an illustration mocking its billionaire owner Jeff Bezos. (Screenshot/CNN/AnnTelnaes)
The media critic personally rejected the policy.
"I couldn't possibly dissent more strongly from that policy," Wemple reacted. "The Post's willingness over the years to cover its slip-ups and scandals has helped to set it apart from the many news organizations that refuse to hold themselves to the same rules to which they hold politicians, CEOs, professional athletes, etc. And it's something, I believe, that subscribers have appreciated."
"After the blowup over The Post's presidential endorsement policy in October, for example, I heard concerns from media chatters about this very dynamic: How would they know about things that go down in the hallways, or Zoomways, as the case may be? As for Murray's claim that there's a conflict of interest, well, of course there's a conflict of interest! One so big that it doesn't even need to be declared. But for decades, Post journalists have managed to overcome those conflicts, do stories about their own colleagues and just deal with the awkwardness that invariably arises in the hallways/Zoomways. It's clear from this chat that readers have appreciated all that work," Wemple added.
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Washington Post executive editor Matt Murray said he implemented a new "policy" that the paper does not cover itself. (Robert Miller/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
A spokesperson for The Washington Post told Fox News Digital that Murray's comments speak for themselves and did not comment further.
Wemple, a media opinion writer who works separately from his reporter colleagues in The Post newsroom, hasn't shied away from calling out his own employer.
He has even done his own reporting about The Post in the past. In 2022, Wemple reported on the behind-the-scenes drama that unfolded following an erroneous piece penned by Taylor Lorenz (she left The Post in 2024).
Washington Post media critic Erik Wemple slammed the new policy by top editor Matt Murray saying the paper shouldn't cover itself. (Screenshot/Washington Post)
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Murray was tapped as acting executive editor last year by then-incoming Post publisher Will Lewis. A report recently indicated that Murray will assume the role on a permanent basis after an exhaustive and unsuccessful search for another candidate.
Over the past year, The Washington Post has been at the center of media controversy from newsroom tensions between Lewis and his staff, major financial losses, outrage over Bezos' decision to quash the paper's endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris, to the unprecedented exodus of top talent who have fled the paper in recent weeks.
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