Washington Post media critic slams his paper for keeping mum on anti-Bezos cartoon

The Washington Post’s media critic blasted his paper for failing to cover the internal turmoil plaguing the Jeff Bezos-owned publication — including the decision to kill an editorial cartoon that showed the Amazon billionaire bowing to President-elect Donald Trump.

Erik Wemple pulled no punches during a live chat session with readers when asked about the controversial decision to remove the cartoon, which prompted Pulitzer Prize winner Ann Telnaes to resign.

“The Post has a long history of warts and all its internal affairs coverage. But there has been nothing from the newsroom media desk about the matter — just an AP story that we posted on our website,” Wemple said Monday.

He went on to say that recently appointed executive editor Matt Murray defended the decision as part of his new policy of “not covering ourselves” because it is “fraught with conflict”.

Wemple said Murray told him, “Most news outlets have the same or similar policies of course. I put this up weeks ago, so there’s nothing about it specifically related to the cartoon.’

Wemple dropped the new policy.

“The Post’s willingness over the years to cover its mistakes and scandals has helped set it apart from many news organizations that refuse to abide by the same rules by which they hold politicians, CEOs, professional athletes, etc. And it’s something , I believe, that the subscribers have appreciated,” he said.

The Beltway broadsheet has been hit by a wave of defections in recent months after Bezos killed an endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris weeks before the Nov. 5 election. Approximately 250,000 readers reportedly canceled their subscriptions following the decision.

On Tuesday, the New York Times reported that WaPo will lay off 4% of its staff, about 100 people, in its business divisions such as ad sales and marketing, as Bezos and publisher Will Lewis struggle to offset falling revenue. from printing and to reorient the left of the newspaper. – trend coverage.

A representative for The Post did not immediately return requests for comment.

Wemple, who joined the WaPo in 2017, has been open about his mistakes.

In 2022, Wemple reported on the drama in the newsroom that occurred after an erroneous article written by colleague Taylor Lorenz. Lorenz left the paper in 2024 amid another scandal in which she called President Biden a “war criminal” in a social media post and lied to her bosses about it.

Wemple has had a lot to chew on when it comes to his letter this past year. The Washington Post has been at the center of media explosions from growing tensions between Lewis and his staff, including executive editor Sally Buzbee’s sudden decision to resign.

Rob Winnett was tapped by Lewis to replace Buzbee, but he withdrew from that position after Post reporters dug into the editor’s journalistic past.

Recently, several high-profile reporters have left the paper, including Ashley Parker and Michael Scherer, two well-known political reporters who joined The Atlantic, and Josh Dawsey, an investigative political reporter, who left for Wall Street Journal.