NEW YORK — The Washington Post’s brand-new publisher is dealingwith concerns about whether he made efforts to hide — in his own paper and somewhereelse — his participation in a British phone hacking scandal from his time working for Rupert Murdoch a years earlier.
The weeklong legend, which started with the abrupt departure of the Post’s executive editor Sunday night, uses a window into distinctions inbetween approaches to journalism in Britain and the United States — and touches on fragile concerns of trust in the American media neighborhood as it approaches a controversial and seismic governmental election.
The publisher and CEO, Will Lewis, has rejected any misbehavior in Britain and at the Post.
Lewis, a previous publisher of The Wall Street Journal, showedup in January to turn around the Post, which is awash in red ink and seen its digital readership drop by a half giventhat2020 Lewis is likewise the vice chairman of The Associated Press’ board of directors.
He revealed a restructuring strategy on Sunday that did not consistof the leading news executive, Sally Buzbee, who obviously was either required out or selected not to accept a demotion. Buzbee, the previous leading news executive at the AP, has led the Post newsroom for 3 years. She has not talked about her departure.
This week, The New York Times reported that Lewis informed Buzbee in a phone discussion last month that a advancement in lawsuits by Prince Harry about the phone hacking scandal did not warrant protection in the Post.
That stretching case included the declared interception of voicemails of celebs and royals by Murdoch-owned papers in Britain. Plaintiffs in a civil case haveactually declared that Lewis was included in efforts to tamp down difficulty, in part by damaging proof. Lewis has rejected this.
The Times stated Lewis informed Buzbee that it would be a lapse in judgment to run the story, which was ultimately released. The Post stated Friday that that account was unreliable and Lewis did not pressure Buzbee not to release any stories. “To recommend otherwise is entirely incorrect,” the paper stated in a declaration.
Buzbee did not respond to a message from the AP on Friday askingfor remark on her own characterization of the discussion.
In mainstream American journalism, it’s usually thoughtabout an ethical breach for a publisher to get included in these ki