“Journalism,” Phil Graham famously said, “is the first rough draft of history.” Over at the Washington Post, once owned by the Graham family, history is indeed being made. On June 2, 2024, the Washington Post announced that its top editor for the past few years, Sally Buzbee, would be leaving, as she has overseen a period when America’s second-most storied newspaper has lost hundreds of millions of dollars. Matt Murray, who previously led the Wall Street Journal, was announced as the interim executive editor. Robert Winnett, formerly with the U.K.’s Telegraph, will succeed Murray after the presidential election. Both have their work cut out for them.

Will Lewis, the Washington Post’s publisher, spoke with staff. “We are losing large amounts of money,” Lewis reportedly said. “Your audience has halved in recent years. People are not reading your stuff. I can’t sugarcoat it anymore.” In reply, he received complaints that the newspaper will now be run exclusively by “white men” and defenses of the objectively failing reporting and opinion products that blamed the very management which has been spending some $77 million per year at the 2023 rate of loss subsidizing Washington Post journalists.