Washington Post Publisher Will Lewis and Incoming Editor-in-Chief Robert Winnett Used Stolen Files While Reporting in the UK: NYT
Newly appointed publisher of The Washington Post, Will Lewisand its incoming executive editor, Robert Winnettboth used fraudulently obtained company and phone records in articles when they were journalists in London about two decades ago, according to Report from The New York Times.
Articles published in the British newspaper Broadsheet Sunday Times, produced around the time the organization “admitted to explicitly paying private investigators to surreptitiously obtain documents. That would violate the ethics rules of The Post and most American news organizations.” NYT‘S Justin Scheck And Jo Becker wrote on Saturday. Their report is based on interviews with a former colleague, a published account by a private investigator and analysis of newspaper archives.
The British newspaper has repeatedly denied paying anyone to act illegally.
“I have asked friends and family to stop sending me links to stories about Will Lewis,” one person wrote. parcel workers speak politics. “Each scoop is worse than the last. I couldn’t concentrate on my work as each headline added to what felt like an existential crisis.”
Lewis, who published the book Wall Street Journal from 2014 to 2020, assigned the article in 2004 while working as a business editor at Sunday Times. The author of that article, Peter Koenigsaid this week that Lewis “personally assigned him to write an article in 2004 using phone records that the reporter understood were obtained through hacking,” according to the report. NYT.
After that article was published, the subject was a famous British businessman, public says his records were stolen. Although it remains unclear who initially obtained the records – they were never arrested – it was reported at the time that someone called the phone company and impersonated the businessman. In the UK, this type of deception is called “slander”, which is specifically permitted under English law, if the information obtained is beneficial to the public.
The time‘ review of Mr. Lewis’s career questioned the decision the new publisher made in 2009 to work for Daily telegraph in the UK had to “pay over 100,000 (GB) pounds for information from one source. Paying for information is banned in most US newsrooms,” the journalists wrote.
During the November meeting with parcel employee, Lewis reportedly defended the payments and said the money in question was placed in an escrow account to protect its origin. “But time‘ the group wrote, “the consultant who brokered the deal said in a recent interview that there was no escrow account and that he transferred the funds to the sources himself.”
A spokesman for Washington Post Talk to time that Lewis refused to answer a list of questions.
In a meeting in November before officially assuming the role, Lewis speak a room of parcel employee that “his plan is to arrive and for us to create an incredibly exciting path forward together. I can smell it. I can feel it. I know that.”
In light of the questions raised in yesterday’s report, it remains unclear what Lewis’ future at the organization will be.
Sally Quinna long time parcel columnist who expressed support for Lewis’s proposed changes to the newsroom, spoke about time article that “full transparency is key” and “it’s only fair to give Will the opportunity to speak for himself,” according to ARRIVE politics.
EQUAL Vanity fair‘S Charlotte Klein reported, the findings come after a particularly turbulent period transition period give parcel. For the team at the legacy newsroom, the past year has been filled with the introduction of new executives, like Lewis, more than 200 purchases across the organization, persistent concerns about finances, editorial board restructuring and general confusion about their future. The parcel especially shake by the sudden exit of Sally Buzbeewho has led the paper since May 2021 and is the first woman to do so.
