Washington Post CEO promised interview for ignoring scandal, says veteran NPR reporter
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Mr Will Lewis is accused in court filings of helping to cover up illegal phone hacking at British publications owned by Mr Rupert Murdoch more than a decade ago.
PHOTO: NYTIMES
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NEW YORK – Mr Will Lewis, chief executive of The Washington Post, repeatedly offered an exclusive interview to an NPR reporter if the reporter agreed not to write about allegations against Mr Lewis in a phone-hacking scandal in Britain, according to an account by that reporter published June 6.
Mr David Folkenflik, a veteran media reporter for NPR, wrote that a spokesperson for Mr Lewis confirmed the offer in December 2023. That spokesperson declined to comment when approached again on June 6, according to NPR.
“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,” Mr Folkenflik wrote.
A spokesperson for Mr Lewis said that “when he was a private citizen ahead of joining The Washington Post, he had off-the-record conversations with an employee of NPR about a story the employee then published”.
The spokesperson said any interview requests with Mr Lewis after he joined the Post were “processed through the normal corporate communication channels”.
In an interview on June 6, Mr Folkenflik said he did not violate an off-the-record agreement with Mr Lewis to report the article from June 6.
He also said that he decided to disclose the conversation with Mr Lewis and his spokesperson now in the light of recent turmoil at the Post.
On June 2, Mr Lewis announced that Ms Sally Buzbee had resigned as executive editor and that Mr Matt Murray, a former top editor at The Wall Street Journal, would be her temporary replacement.
After the presidential election, Mr Robert Winnett, a British editor, will oversee the core news operation, and Mr Murray will manage a new division focused on social media and service journalism.
Mr Lewis, who was named chief executive of the Post late 2023, is accused in court filings of helping to cover up illegal phone hacking at British publications owned by Mr Rupert Murdoch more than a decade ago.
In May, in a case brought by Prince Harry and others, a judge ruled that the plaintiffs could add Mr Lewis’ name to a list of executives they argued were involved in a plan to conceal evidence of hacking at the newspapers.
Mr Lewis has strongly denied any wrongdoing in that case. Although he is named in the lawsuit, he is not a defendant. NYTIMES
