GetWiki

{{short description|American daily newspaper}}{{redirect|WaPo||WAPO (disambiguation){{!}}WAPO|and|Washington Post (disambiguation)}}{{Not to be confused with|The Washington Times}}{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2024}}

factoids

| chiefeditor = Sally Buzbee| maneditors = | newseditor = | managingeditordesign = | campuseditor = | campuschief = | opeditor = | sportseditor = | photoeditor = TITLE=WASHINGTON POST EXPANDS ROLES OF 3 TOP EDITORS IN FIRST MAJOR CHANGES UNDER NEW EXECUTIVE EDITOR NEWSPAPER=THE WASHINGTON POST URL-STATUS=LIVE ACCESS-DATE=OCTOBER 19, 2021 ARCHIVE-DATE=OCTOBER 19, 2021, One Franklin Square, 1301 K Street (Washington, D.C.)>K Street NW, Washington, D.C., U.S.ACHENBACH >FIRST=JOEL URL=HTTPS://WWW.WASHINGTONPOST.COM/LIFESTYLE/MAGAZINE/HELLO-NEW-WASHINGTON-POST-HOME-TO-TINY-OFFICES-BUT-BIG-NEW-AMBITIONS/2015/12/07/323D3140-798C-11E5-B9C1-F03C48C96AC2_STORY.HTML NEWSPAPER=THE WASHINGTON POST ACCESS-DATE=DECEMBER 14, 2015 ARCHIVE-DATE=DECEMBER 19, 2018, | circulation = 139,232 average print circulation| sister newspapers = | ISSN = 0190-8286| oclc = 2269358| website = {{official URL}}| free = | dirinteractive = | motto = Democracy Dies in Darkness| publishing_country = United States| circulation_date = }}The Washington Post, locally known as "the Post" and, informally, WaPo or WP, is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington metropolitan areaWEB, District of Columbia's Top 10 Newspapers by Circulation,weblink Agility PR Solutions, March 24, 2020, October 16, 2015, March 24, 2020,weblink live, BOOK, Gaaserud, Michaela Riva,weblink Moon Virginia & Maryland: Including Washington DC, February 11, 2014, Avalon Publishing, 978-1-61238-517-4, 556, March 24, 2020, September 1, 2023,weblink live, and has a national audience.The Post was founded in 1877. In its early years, it went through several owners and struggled both financially and editorially. Financier Eugene Meyer purchased it out of bankruptcy in 1933 and revived its health and reputation; this work was continued by his successors Katharine and Phil Graham (Meyer's daughter and son-in-law), who bought out several rival publications. The Post{{'s}} 1971 printing of the Pentagon Papers helped spur opposition to the Vietnam War. Reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein led the investigation into the break-in at the Democratic National Headquarters that developed into the Watergate scandal, which resulted in the 1974 resignation of President Richard Nixon. In October 2013, the Graham family sold the newspaper to Nash Holdings, a holding company owned by Jeff Bezos, for $250 million.NEWS,weblink The Real Reason Jeff Bezos Bought The Washington Post, August 6, 2013, Fast Company, March 28, 2018, en-US, March 29, 2018,weblink live, As of 2023, the newspaper had won the Pulitzer Prize 73 times for its work,NEWS, 2023-05-08, The Washington Post wins three 2023 Pulitzer Prizes,weblink 2024-04-06, Washington Post, en-US, 0190-8286, "Including the 2023 awards, The Post has won 73 Pulitzer Prizes since 1936.", the second-most of any publication (after The New York Times).PRESS RELEASE, The Washington Post wins the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting for groundbreaking climate change coverage,weblink live, The Washington Post, May 4, 2020,weblink May 11, 2020, WEB, Watson, Amy, Media companies with the most Pulitzer awards in the U.S. 2018,weblink live,weblink September 14, 2020, September 16, 2020, Statista, It is considered a newspaper of record in the U.S.BOOK, Frost, Corey, Weingarten, Karen, Babington, Doug, LePan, Don, Okun, Maureen, The Broadview Guide to Writing: A Handbook for Students,weblink live, Broadview Press, 6th, May 30, 2017, 27, February 18, 2023, 978-1-55481-313-1,weblink June 29, 2023, BOOK, Barton, Greg, Weller, Paul, Yilmaz, Ihsan, The Muslim World and Politics in Transition: Creative Contributions of the Gülen Movement,weblink live, A&C Black, December 18, 2014, 28–, March 9, 2020, 978-1-4411-5873-4,weblink December 16, 2021, WEB, Doctor, Ken, On The Washington Post and the 'newspaper of record' epithet,weblink live,weblink October 4, 2022, December 16, 2021, POLITICO Media, December 3, 2015, Post journalists have received 18 Nieman Fellowships and 368 White House News Photographers Association awards.WEB, The Washington Post {{!, Roper Center for Public Opinion Research |url=https://ropercenter.cornell.edu/washington-post |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210416014858weblink |archive-date=April 16, 2021 |access-date=February 7, 2021 |website=ropercenter.cornell.edu}}WEB, Jobs at,weblink live,weblink February 14, 2021, February 7, 2021, www.theladders.com, The paper is well known for its political reporting and is one of the few remaining American newspapers to operate foreign bureaus,WEB,weblink The foreign desk in transition, Kaphle, Anup, March 1, 2015, Columbia Journalism Review, December 15, 2022, September 1, 2023,weblink live, with international breaking news hubs in London and Seoul.PRESS RELEASE, July 12, 2021, The Washington Post announces breaking-news reporters for Seoul hub,weblink The Washington Post, December 3, 2023,

Overview

File:Washington Post building.jpg|thumb|The previous headquarters of The Washington Post on 15th Street NW in Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.{{Overview section|date=August 2023}}The Washington Post is regarded as one of the leading daily American newspapers along with The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and The Wall Street Journal.WEB,weblink Washington Post – Daily Newspaper in Washington DC, USA with Local News and Events, Mondo Times, March 31, 2012, June 14, 2021,weblink live, The Post has distinguished itself through its political reporting on the workings of the White House, Congress, and other aspects of the U.S. government. It is considered a newspaper of record in the U.S.The Washington Post does not print an edition for distribution away from the East Coast. In 2009, the newspaper ceased publication of its National Weekly Edition due to shrinking circulation.NEWS, Post's National Weekly Edition to Close,weblink The Washington Post, June 2, 2011, June 12, 2011,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20110612141018weblink">weblink live, The majority of its newsprint readership is in Washington, D.C., and its suburbs in Maryland and Northern Virginia.WEB,weblink The Washington Post Media, The Washington Post's Circulation and Reach, March 2, 2009, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20081120080706weblink">weblink November 20, 2008, The newspaper's 21 current foreign bureaus are in Baghdad, Beijing, Beirut, Berlin, Brussels, Cairo, Dakar, Hong Kong, Islamabad, Istanbul, Jerusalem, London, Mexico City, Moscow, Nairobi, New Delhi, Rio de Janeiro, Rome, Seoul, Tokyo, and Toronto.NEWS,weblink The Washington Post's foreign correspondents, The Washington Post, April 5, 2021, In November 2009, the newspaper announced the closure of three U.S. regional bureaus in Chicago, Los Angeles and New York City, as part of an increased focus on Washington, D.C.-based political stories and local news.NEWS, Washington Post to close three regional bureaux, BBC News,weblink November 25, 2009, November 25, 2009, November 25, 2009,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20091125051824weblink">weblink live, The newspaper has local bureaus in Maryland (Annapolis, Montgomery County, Prince George's County, and Southern Maryland) and Virginia (Alexandria, Fairfax, Loudoun County, Richmond, and Prince William County).NEWS,weblink Washington Post Bureaus, The Washington Post, November 25, 2009, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20090203155750weblink">weblink February 3, 2009, As of March 2023, the Post's average printed weekday circulation is 139,232, making it the third largest newspaper in the country by circulation.WEB, Majid, Aisha, June 26, 2023, Top 25 US newspaper circulations: Largest print titles fall 14% in year to March 2023,weblink live, January 16, 2024, Visual Capitalist, en-US, August 8, 2022,weblink For many decades, the Post had its main office at 1150 15th Street NW. This real estate remained with Graham Holdings when the newspaper was sold to Jeff Bezos' Nash Holdings in 2013. Graham Holdings sold 1150 15th Street, along with 1515 L Street, 1523 L Street, and land beneath 1100 15th Street, for $159 million in November 2013. The Post continued to lease space at 1150 L Street NW.NEWS,weblink O'Connell, Jonathan, Washington Post headquarters to sell to Carr Properties for $159 million, The Washington Post, November 27, 2013, June 14, 2015, July 3, 2015,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20150703123313weblink">weblink live, In May 2014, The Post leased the west tower of One Franklin Square, a high-rise building at 1301 K Street NW in Washington, D.C.NEWS,weblink O'Connell, Jonathan, Washington Post signs lease for new headquarters, The Washington Post, May 23, 2014, June 14, 2015, May 11, 2015,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20150511042525weblink">weblink live, Mary Jordan was the founding editor, head of content, and moderator for Washington Post Live,NEWS, PostLive,weblink The Washington Post, June 30, 2021,weblink August 14, 2015, August 14, 2015, dead, NEWS, Washington Post Live,weblink Washington Post, June 30, 2021,weblink June 29, 2021, en, live, The Post's editorial events business, which organizes political debates, conferences and news events for the media company, including "The 40th Anniversary of Watergate" in June 2012 that featured key Watergate figures including former White House counsel John Dean, Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee, and reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, which was held at the Watergate hotel. Regular hosts include Frances Stead Sellers.NEWS, January 27, 2021, A Washington Post Live Special: Melinda & Bill Gates, The Washington Post,weblink June 30, 2021, March 3, 2021,weblink live, NEWS, August 27, 2020, Washington Post Discussion with Kellyanne Conway, C-Span,weblink June 30, 2021, June 8, 2021,weblink live, NEWS, March 23, 2021, Climate Solutions: Preserving Our Water Systems with Matt Damon, Arun Krishnamurthy & Gary White, The Washington Post,weblink June 30, 2021, June 14, 2021,weblink live, Lois Romano was formerly the editor of Washington Post Live.NEWS, Baron, Martin, Lois Romano named Editor of Washington Post Live,weblink The Washington Post, January 6, 2015, January 7, 2018, January 7, 2018,weblink live, The Post has its own exclusive Zip Code, 20071.

Publishing service

Arc XP is a department of The Washington Post, which provides a publishing system and software for news organizations such as the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times.WEB,weblink Here's how Arc's cautious quest to become the go-to publishing system for news organizations is going, Nieman Lab, Harvard University, Shan Wang, February 2, 2018, June 25, 2018, June 25, 2018,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20180625161023weblink">weblink live, WEB, Endangered but Not Too Late: The State of Digital News Preservation (forthcoming),weblink live, August 5, 2021, August 5, 2021,weblink

History

Founding and early period

(File:Washington Post and Union masthead 18780416.jpg|thumb|The Washington Post and Union in 1878)File:Sign, "Welcome Home From the Crow-Eaters," on the front of the Washington Post Building in Washington, DC. President... - NARA - 199955.jpg|thumb|The Washington Post building the week after the 1948 United States presidential election; the "Crow-Eaters" sign is addressed to Harry TrumanHarry TrumanThe newspaper was founded in 1877 by Stilson Hutchins (1838{{ndash}}1912), and in 1880 it added a Sunday edition, becoming the city's first newspaper to publish seven days a week.NEWS,weblink Washington Post website, General Information, History, Early History (1877–1933), The Washington Post, December 23, 2019, December 24, 2019,weblink live,

19th century

In April 1878, about four months into publication, The Washington Post purchased The Washington Union, a competing newspaper which was founded by John Lynch in late 1877. The Union had only been in operation about six months at the time of the acquisition. The combined newspaper was published from the Globe Building as The Washington Post and Union beginning on April 15, 1878, with a circulation of 13,000.NEWS, 'The Post' as an Absorbent, April 16, 1878, The Washington Post and Union, April 16, 1878, 2, NEWS, Masthead, The Washington Post and Union, April 15, 1878, 1, The Post and Union name was used about two weeks until April 29, 1878, returning to the original masthead the following day.NEWS, Masthead, The Washington Post, April 30, 1878, 1, In 1889, Hutchins sold the newspaper to Frank Hatton, a former Postmaster General, and Beriah Wilkins, a former Democratic congressman from Ohio. To promote the newspaper, the new owners requested the leader of the United States Marine Band, John Philip Sousa, to compose a march for the newspaper's essay contest awards ceremony. Sousa composed "The Washington Post".NEWS,weblink 1889, The Washington Post,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20060312152421weblink">weblink March 12, 2006, It became the standard music to accompany the two-step, a late 19th-century dance craze,WEB,weblink John Philip Sousa Collection, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20090531000910weblink">weblink May 31, 2009, and remains one of Sousa's best-known works.In 1893, the newspaper moved to a building at 14th and E streets NW, where it would remain until 1950. This building combined all functions of the newspaper into one headquarters – newsroom, advertising, typesetting, and printing – that ran 24 hours per day.NEWS,weblink Goodbye, old Washington Post, home of the newspaper the Grahams built, Marc, Fisher, December 10, 2015, The Washington Post, March 24, 2017, February 6, 2017,weblink live, In 1898, during the Spanish–American War, the Post printed Clifford K. Berryman's classic illustration Remember the Maine, which became the battle-cry for American sailors during the War. In 1902, Berryman published another famous cartoon in the Post – Drawing the Line in Mississippi. This cartoon depicts President Theodore Roosevelt showing compassion for a small bear cub and inspired New York store owner Morris Michtom to create the teddy bear.WEB, Clifford K. Berryman Political Cartoon Collection,weblink www.archives.gov, August 12, 2015, September 5, 2015,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20150905152127weblink">weblink live, Wilkins acquired Hatton's share of the newspaper in 1894 at Hatton's death.

20th century

File:Land on the Moon 7 21 1969-repair.jpg|thumb|The July 21, 1969, edition with the headline {{" '}}The Eagle Has Landed': Two Men Walk on the Moon", covering the Apollo 11Apollo 11After Wilkins' death in 1903, his sons John and Robert ran the Post for two years before selling it in 1905 to John Roll McLean, owner of the Cincinnati Enquirer. During the Wilson presidency, the Post was credited with the "most famous newspaper typo" in D.C. history according to Reason magazine; the Post intended to report that President Wilson had been "entertaining" his future-wife Mrs. Galt, but instead wrote that he had been "entering" Mrs. Galt.NEWS, Rabbe, Will, The Washington Post's Famous 1915 Typo,weblink MSNBC, June 8, 2013, August 7, 2013, August 10, 2013,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20130810081734weblink">weblink live, JOURNAL, Freund, Charles Paul, D.C. Jewels: The closing of a historic shop is a triumph of meaning over means, ...Mrs. Edith Galt, who became the second wife of Woodrow Wilson ... She also figures in the most famous newspaper typo in D.C. history. The Washington Post ... Intending to report that Wilson had been entertaining Mrs. Galt in a loge at the National, early editions instead printed that he was seen entering her there., Reason (magazine), Reason, July 2001,weblink November 5, 2009, February 13, 2010,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20100213162624weblink">weblink live, NEWS, Weingarten, Gene, Gene Weingarten, Chatological Humor* (Updated 7.14.06), The Post said that the President spent the afternoon "entertaining" Mrs. Galt, but they dropped the "tain" in one edition. Wilson LOVED it., The Washington Post, July 11, 2006,weblink November 5, 2009, November 9, 2012,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20121109020427weblink">weblink live, When McLean died in 1916, he put the newspaper in a trust, having little faith that his playboy son Edward "Ned" McLean could manage it as part of his inheritance. Ned went to court and broke the trust, but, under his management, the newspaper slumped toward ruin. He bled the paper for his lavish lifestyle and used it to promote political agendas.BOOK, Carol Felsenthal, Power, Privilege and the Post: The Katharine Graham Story,weblink September 9, 2018, 1993, Seven Stories Press, 978-1-60980-290-5, 53, March 23, 2019,weblink live, During the Red Summer of 1919 the Post supported the white mobs and even ran a front-page story which advertised the location at which white servicemen were planning to meet to carry out attacks on black Washingtonians.NEWS, Higgins, Abigail, Red Summer of 1919: How Black WWI Vets Fought Back Against Racist Mobs,weblink History, December 23, 2019, December 22, 2019,weblink live, In 1929, financier Eugene Meyer, who had run the War Finance Corp. since World War I,BOOK, Eustace Clarence Mullins, Study of The Federal Reserve,weblink 2013, Simon & Schuster, 978-1-62793-114-4, September 30, 2020, April 16, 2021,weblink live, secretly made an offer of $5 million for the Post, but he was rebuffed by Ned McLean.BOOK, Carol Felsenthal, Power, Privilege and the Post: The Katharine Graham Story,weblink September 9, 2018, 1993, Seven Stories Press, 978-1-60980-290-5, 51, June 30, 2019,weblink live, BOOK, Chalmers McGeagh Roberts, The Washington Post: The First 100 Years,weblink$5+million+from+Eugene+Meyer+but+Ned+had+blocked+that+sale%22&pg=PT146, September 9, 2018, 1977, Houghton Mifflin, 978-0-395-25854-5, 190, Headed for Disaster – Ned McLean I, October 4, 2022,weblink$5+million+from+Eugene+Meyer+but+Ned+had+blocked+that+sale%22&pg=PT146, live, On June 1, 1933, Meyer bought the paper at a bankruptcy auction for $825,000 three weeks after stepping down as Chairman of the Federal Reserve. He had bid anonymously, and was prepared to go up to $2 million, far higher than the other bidders.BOOK, Carol Felsenthal, Power, Privilege and the Post: The Katharine Graham Story,weblink September 9, 2018, 1993, Seven Stories Press, 978-1-60980-290-5, 51, March 23, 2019,weblink live, BOOK, Chalmers McGeagh Roberts, The Washington Post: The First 100 Years,weblink$2+million%22&pg=PT146, September 10, 2018, 1977, Houghton Mifflin, 978-0-395-25854-5, 194, October 4, 2022,weblink$2+million%22&pg=PT146, live, These included William Randolph Hearst, who had long hoped to shut down the ailing Post to benefit his own Washington newspaper presence.BOOK, Chalmers McGeagh Roberts, The Washington Post: The First 100 Years,weblink September 10, 2018, 1977, Houghton Mifflin, 978-0-395-25854-5, 190, October 4, 2022,weblink live, The Post{{'s}} health and reputation were restored under Meyer's ownership. In 1946, he was succeeded as publisher by his son-in-law, Philip Graham.NEWS, Roberts, Chalmers M., June 1, 1983, Eugene Meyer Bought Post 50 Years Ago,weblink The Washington Post, April 20, 2017, March 23, 2017,weblink live, Meyer eventually gained the last laugh over Hearst, who had owned the old Washington Times and the Herald before their 1939 merger that formed the Times-Herald. This was in turn bought by and merged into the Post in 1954.WEB,weblink Washington Times-Herald Sold by Tribune Company (March 18, 1954), Chicago Tribune, March 23, 2017, {{dead link|date=February 2018|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} The combined paper was officially named The Washington Post and Times-Herald until 1973, although the Times-Herald portion of the nameplate became less and less prominent over time.The merger left the Post with two remaining local competitors, the Washington Star (Evening Star) and The Washington Daily News. In 1972, the two competitors merged, forming the Washington Star-News.NEWS,weblink Washington Star is to Shut Down After 128 Years, B. Drummond Jr, Ayres, July 24, 1981, The New York Times, March 23, 2017, 0362-4331, March 23, 2017,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20170323233038weblink">weblink live, WEB,weblink Here's the 1960s Headquarters of the Washington Daily News, July 11, 2014, Curbed DC, March 23, 2017, March 23, 2017,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20170323143814weblink">weblink live, Following Graham's death in 1963, control of The Washington Post Company passed to his wife, Katharine Graham (1917{{ndash}}2001), who was also Eugene Meyer's daughter. Few women had run prominent national newspapers in the United States. Katharine Graham described her own anxiety and lack of confidence as she stepped into a leadership role in her autobiography. She served as publisher from 1969 to 1979.NEWS,weblink Donald E. Graham Is Named Publisher of Washington Post, January 10, 1979, The Washington Post, March 20, 2018, en-US, 0190-8286, March 21, 2018,weblink live, Graham took The Washington Post Company public on June 15, 1971, in the midst of the Pentagon Papers controversy. A total of 1,294,000 shares were offered to the public at $26 per share.NEWS, Washington Post Offering Due Today at $26 a Share,weblink February 13, 2018, The New York Times, June 15, 1971, March 23, 2019,weblink live, WEB, Our Company,weblink Graham Holdings, February 13, 2018, {{dead link|date=January 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} By the end of Graham's tenure as CEO in 1991, the stock was worth $888 per share, not counting the effect of an intermediate 4:1 stock split.BOOK, Telford, Dana, Gostick, Adrian Robert, Integrity Works: Strategies for Becoming a Trusted, Respected and Admired Leader, 2005, Gibbs Smith, 1-58685-054-7, 81, First,weblink February 13, 2018, January 25, 2021,weblink live, Graham also oversaw the Post company's diversification purchase of the for-profit education and training company Kaplan, Inc. for $40 million in 1984.The trials of Kaplan Higher Ed and the education of The Washington Post Co. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310191420weblink |date=March 10, 2016 }}, Washington Post, Steven Mufson and Jia Lynn Yang, April 9, 2011. Twenty years later, Kaplan had surpassed the Post newspaper as the company's leading contributor to income, and by 2010 Kaplan accounted for more than 60% of the entire company revenue stream.Nice Guy, Finishing Last: How Don Graham Fumbled the Washington Post Co. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171009211826weblink |date=October 9, 2017 }}, Forbes, Jeff Bercovici, February 8, 2012.Executive editor Ben Bradlee put the newspaper's reputation and resources behind reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, who, in a long series of articles, chipped away at the story behind the 1972 burglary of Democratic National Committee offices in the Watergate complex in Washington. The Post{{'s}} dogged coverage of the story, the outcome of which ultimately played a major role in the resignation of President Richard Nixon, won the newspaper a Pulitzer Prize in 1973.NEWS, Pulitzers Go to Washington Post, Frankel, 'Championship Season',weblink The New York Times, May 8, 1973, July 12, 2020, July 12, 2020,weblink live, In 1972, the "Book World" section was introduced with Pulitzer Prize-winning critic William McPherson as its first editor.NEWS, Arana-Ward, Marie, Marie Arana, June 1, 1997, Views From Publisher's Row, The Washington Post,weblink live, February 5, 2016,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20160412062956weblink">weblink April 12, 2016, It featured Pulitzer Prize-winning critics such as Jonathan Yardley and Michael Dirda, the latter of whom established his career as a critic at the Post. In 2009, after 37 years, with great reader outcries and protest, The Washington Post Book World as a standalone insert was discontinued, the last issue being Sunday, February 15, 2009,NEWS, John Gaines, Where Have All the Magazines Gone?,weblink March 14, 2016, Library Point,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20161011145110weblink">weblink October 11, 2016, dead, along with a general reorganization of the paper, such as placing the Sunday editorials on the back page of the main front section rather than the "Outlook" section and distributing some other locally oriented "op-ed" letters and commentaries in other sections.Letter from the editor {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304213535weblink |date=March 4, 2016 }}, The Washington Post, Sunday, February 15, 2009; Page BW02 However, book reviews are still published in the Outlook section on Sundays and in the Style section the rest of the week, as well as online.In 1975, the pressmen's union went on strike. The Post hired replacement workers to replace the pressmen's union, and other unions returned to work in February 1976.NEWS, Franklin, Ben A., 'Chastened' Unions Lick Their Wounds as Last Holdouts in 20-Week Washington Post Strike Return to Work,weblink November 26, 2018, The New York Times, February 29, 1976, en, November 26, 2018,weblink live, Donald E. Graham, Katharine's son, succeeded her as a publisher in 1979.In 1995, the domain name washingtonpost.com was purchased. That same year, a failed effort to create an online news repository called Digital Ink launched. The following year it was shut down and the first website was launched in June 1996.WEB, December 30, 2019, When Did the Washington Post Launch a Website?,weblink December 31, 2019, en-US, December 31, 2019,weblink live,

Jeff Bezos era (2013–present)

(File:Washington Post demolition 2016.jpg|thumb|The demolition of The Washington Post{{'s}} 15th Street headquarters in April 2016)File:One Franklin Square - November 2023.jpg|thumb|One Franklin SquareOne Franklin SquareIn late September 2013, Jeff Bezos purchased The Washington Post and other local publications, websites, and real estateNEWS,weblinkweblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20140313195854weblink">weblink March 13, 2014, Kevin James, Shay, Bezos completes purchase of Gazettes, Post, The Maryland Gazette, October 1, 2013, March 13, 2014, dead, WEB,weblink Form 8-K. THE WASHINGTON POST COMPANY. Commission File Number 1-6714. Exhibit 2.1: Letter Agreement., U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, August 5, 2013, March 13, 2014, August 21, 2013,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20130821213504weblink">weblink live, NEWS,weblink Harwell, Drew, Gazette Papers in Montgomery, Prince George's to Close, The Washington Post, June 12, 2015, June 13, 2015, June 13, 2015,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20150613222131weblink">weblink live, for {{US$|250{{nbsp}}million}},NEWS,weblink Jeff Bezos Completes Washington Post Acquisition, Clabaugh, Jeff, October 1, 2013, Washington Business Journal, October 1, 2013, October 2, 2013,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20131002003337weblink">weblink live, NEWS,weblink The Washington Post Closes Sale to Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos, Fahri, Paul, October 1, 2013, The Washington Post, 0190-8286, February 5, 2016, May 28, 2014,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20140528092936weblink">weblink live, NEWS,weblink Washington Post To Be Sold to Jeff Bezos, the Founder of Amazon, Farhi, Paul, August 5, 2013, The Washington Post, August 5, 2013, 0190-8286, April 2, 2019,weblink live, transferring ownership to Nash Holdings LLC, Bezos's private investment company. The paper's former parent company, which retained some other assets such as Kaplan and a group of TV stations, was renamed Graham Holdings shortly after the sale.NEWS, Irwin, Neil, Mui, Ylan Q., August 5, 2013, Washington Post Sale: Details of Bezos Deal, The Washington Post, Washington, D.C.,weblink live, October 1, 2013,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20140113205846weblink">weblink January 13, 2014, 0190-8286, NEWS, Washington Post Co. renamed Graham Holdings Company to mark sale of newspaper,weblink January 3, 2014, Washington Post, November 18, 2013, Debbi Wilgoren, December 18, 2013,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20131218094951weblink">weblink live, Nash Holdings, which includes the Post, is operated separately from technology company Amazon, which Bezos founded and where he is {{as of|2022|lc=y}} executive chairman and the largest single shareholder, with 12.7% of voting rights.WEB,weblink Jeff Bezos's Ownership of the Washington Post, Explained for Donald Trump, Washingtonian (magazine), Washingtonian, December 7, 2015, November 4, 2020, October 10, 2020,weblink live, WEB,weblink 2022 Proxy Statement, Amazon.com, Inc., 66, April 1, 2022, April 7, 2022, April 7, 2022,weblink live, Bezos said he has a vision that recreates "the 'daily ritual' of reading the Post as a bundle, not merely a series of individual stories..."NEWS, Farhi, Paul, Craig, Timberg, Jeff Bezos to His Future Washington Post Journalists: Put the Readers First,weblink September 4, 2013, The Washington Post, September 28, 2013, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20130921023130weblink">weblink September 21, 2013, He has been described as a "hands-off owner", holding teleconference calls with executive editor Martin Baron every two weeks.NEWS,weblinkweblink May 19, 2017, subscription, live, Washington Post, Breaking News, Is Also Breaking New Ground, Stewart, James B., May 19, 2017, The New York Times, May 20, 2017, 0362-4331, Bezos appointed Fred Ryan (founder and CEO of Politico) to serve as publisher and chief executive officer. This signaled Bezos' intent to shift the Post to a more digital focus with a national and global readership.WEB, Bond, Shannon, Jeff Bezos picks Fred Ryan of Politico to run Washington Post,weblink FT, Financial Times, September 17, 2016, September 2, 2014, October 11, 2016,weblink live, In 2015, the Post moved from the building it owned at 1150 15th Street to a leased space three blocks away at One Franklin Square on K Street.NEWS,weblink O'Connell, Jonathan, Inside the wild ride that landed The Washington Post on K Street, The Washington Post, September 4, 2015, September 5, 2015, September 5, 2015,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20150905093557weblink">weblink live, Since 2014 the Post launched an online personal finance section,NEWS, Barr, Jeremy, Washington Post launches personal finance section,weblink The Washington Post, August 25, 2014, August 26, 2014,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20140826114405weblink">weblink dead, a blog, and a podcast with a retro theme.PRESS RELEASE,weblink The Washington Post launches Retropolis: A History Blog, The Washington Post, April 3, 2017, July 23, 2018,weblink live, PRESS RELEASE,weblink The Washington Post to launch Retropod podcast, The Washington Post, February 7, 2018, July 23, 2018,weblink live, The Post won the 2020 Webby People's Voice Award for News & Politics in the Social and Web categories.WEB, Kastrenakes, Jacob, Here are all the winners of the 2020 Webby Awards,weblink The Verge, May 22, 2020, en, May 20, 2020, May 21, 2020,weblink live, In 2017, the newspaper hired Jamal Khashoggi as a columnist. In 2018, Khashoggi was murdered by Saudi agents in Istanbul.NEWS, The Washington Post, Where is Jamal Khashoggi?,weblink October 4, 2018, October 13, 2018,weblink October 13, 2018, live, NEWS, Souad Mekhennet, Greg Miller, Jamal Khashoggi's final months as an exile in the long shadow of Saudi Arabia,weblink December 27, 2018, The Washington Post, December 22, 2018,weblink December 27, 2018, live, In October 2023, the Post announced it would cut 240 jobs across the organization by offering voluntary separation packages to employees.NEWS, Robertson, Katie, October 10, 2023, The Washington Post to Cut 240 Jobs, en-US, The New York Times,weblink October 12, 2023, 0362-4331, In a staff-wide email announcing the job cuts, interim CEO Patty Stonesifer wrote, "Our prior projections for traffic, subscriptions and advertising growth for the past two years — and into 2024 — have been overly optimistic". The Post has lost around 500,000 subscribers since the end of 2020 and was set to lose $100 million in 2023, according to The New York Times. The layoffs prompted Dan Froomkin of Presswatchers to suggest that the decline in readership could be reversed by focusing on the rise of authoritarianism (in a fashion similar to the role the Post played during the Watergate scandal) instead of staying strictly neutral, which Froomkin says places the paper into an undistinguished secondary role in competition with other contemporary media.Froomkin, Dan, The Washington Post blew its chance, Presswatchers, October 13, 2023In November 2023, the Post joined with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, Paper Trail Media and 69 media partners including Distributed Denial of Secrets and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and more than 270 journalists in 55 countries and territoriesWEB, November 14, 2023, Inside Cyprus Confidential: The data-driven journalism that helped expose an island under Russian influence – ICIJ,weblink live,weblink November 30, 2023, December 24, 2023, en-US, WEB, November 14, 2023, About the Cyprus Confidential investigation – ICIJ,weblink live,weblink November 21, 2023, December 24, 2023, en-US, to produce the 'Cyprus Confidential' report on the financial network which supports the regime of Vladimir Putin, mostly with connections to Cyprus, and showed Cyprus to have strong links with high-up figures in the Kremlin, some of whom have been sanctioned.NEWS, November 15, 2023, Cyprus Confidential: Leaked Roman Abramovich documents raise fresh questions for Chelsea FC: ICIJ-led investigation reveals how Mediterranean island ignores Russian atrocities and western sanctions to cash in on Putin's oligarchs, en, The Irish Times,weblink November 15, 2023, WEB, November 14, 2023, Cyprus Confidential – ICIJ,weblink November 14, 2023, www.icij.org, Government officials including Cyprus president Nikos ChristodoulidesWEB, November 15, 2023, Cypriot president pledges government probe into Cyprus Confidential revelations – ICIJ,weblink live,weblink December 14, 2023, December 24, 2023, en-US, and European lawmakersWEB, November 23, 2023, Lawmakers call for EU crackdown after ICIJ's Cyprus Confidential revelations – ICIJ,weblink live,weblink December 24, 2023, December 24, 2023, en-US, began responding to the investigation's findings in less than 24 hours, calling for reforms and launching probes.WEB, November 14, 2023, Cyprus ignores Russian atrocities, Western sanctions to shield vast wealth of Putin allies – ICIJ,weblink live,weblink December 14, 2023, December 24, 2023, en-US, WEB, Solutions, BDigital Web, Finance Minister perturbed over 'Cyprus Confidential',weblink live,weblink December 24, 2023, December 24, 2023, knews.com.cy,

Political stance

{{Liberalism US|Media}}

20th century

File:Waterboarding a captured North Vietnamese soldier near Da Nang.jpeg|thumb|Two United States soldiers and a South Vietnamese soldier waterboard a captured North Vietnamese prisoner during the Vietnam War; the image, which appeared on the front cover of The Washington Post on January 21, 1968, led to the court-martial of a United States soldier, although The Washington Post described waterboarding as "fairly common".NEWS, Eric, Weiner, Eric Weiner, Waterboarding: A Tortured History, November 3, 2007, NPRNPRIn 1933, financier Eugene Meyer bought the bankrupt Post, and assured the public that neither he nor the newspaper would be beholden to any political party.BOOK, Chalmers McGeagh Roberts, The Washington Post: The First 100 Years,weblink 1977, Houghton Mifflin, 978-0-395-25854-5, 198, January 2, 2022, October 4, 2022,weblink live, But as a leading Republican who had been appointed Chairman of the Federal Reserve by Herbert Hoover in 1930, his opposition to Roosevelt's New Deal colored the paper's editorials and news coverage, including editorializing news stories written by Meyer under a pseudonym.BOOK, Tom Kelly, The Imperial Post: The Meyers, the Grahams, and the Paper that Rules Washington,weblink 1983, Morrow, 63–64, 978-0-688-01919-8, May 22, 2020, June 14, 2021,weblink live, NEWS, Ernest Lamb, New Deal a Mistake, Says Glass, Holding U.S. Will Regret It: Senator, in Interview, Tells 'Unvarnished Truth', The Washington Post, Eugene Meyer, April 8, 1934, 1, 4, NEWS, Ernest Lamb, Council Fought Security Act, Records Show: Statements by Wagner and Winant Are Refuted by Hearing Transcript., The Washington Post, Eugene Meyer, October 8, 1936, 1, 12, His wife Agnes Ernst Meyer was a journalist from the other end of the spectrum politically. The Post ran many of her pieces including tributes to her personal friends John Dewey and Saul Alinsky.NEWS, Agnes Ernst Meyer, In Defense of Dr. Dewey, The Washington Post, December 10, 1939, B8, BOOK, Carol Felsenthal, Power, Privilege and the Post: The Katharine Graham Story,weblink 1993, Seven Stories Press, 19, 127, 978-1-60980-290-5, September 30, 2018, July 2, 2019,weblink live, NEWS, Agnes Ernst Meyer, Orderly Revolution,weblink 1945, The Washington Post, September 30, 2018, March 23, 2019,weblink live, BOOK, Sanford D. Horwitt, Let Them Call Me Rebel: Saul Alinsky, His Life and Legacy,weblink 1989, Knopf, 195, 978-0-394-57243-7, September 30, 2018, July 3, 2019,weblink live, In 1946, Meyer was appointed head of World Bank, and he named his son-in-law Phil Graham to succeed him as Post publisher. The post-war years saw the developing friendship of Phil and Kay Graham with the Kennedys, the Bradlees and the rest of the "Georgetown Set" (many Harvard alumni) that would color the Post's political orientation.NEWS, Gregg Herken, The Georgetown Set,weblink September 20, 2018, Politico, October 22, 2014, September 20, 2018,weblink live, Kay Graham's most memorable Georgetown soirée guest list included British diplomat/communist spy Donald Maclean.BOOK, Roland Philipps, A Spy Named Orphan: The Enigma of Donald Maclean,weblink 2018, W. W. Norton, 978-0-393-60858-8, 134, October 12, 2018, March 23, 2019,weblink live, BOOK, Katharine Graham, Personal History,weblink 1997, A.A. Knopf, 978-0-394-58585-7, 156, September 30, 2020, March 20, 2021,weblink live, The Post is credited with coining the term "McCarthyism" in a 1950 editorial cartoon by Herbert Block.BOOK, Chalmers McGeagh Roberts, The Washington Post: The First 100 Years,weblink 1977, Houghton Mifflin, 978-0-395-25854-5, 280, September 18, 2018, March 23, 2019,weblink live, Depicting buckets of tar, it made fun of Sen. Joseph McCarthy's "tarring" tactics, i.e., smear campaigns and character assassination against those targeted by his accusations. Sen. McCarthy was attempting to do for the Senate what the House Un-American Activities Committee had been doing for years—investigating Soviet espionage in America. The HUAC made Richard Nixon nationally known for his role in the Hiss/Chambers case that exposed communist spying in the State Department. The committee had evolved from the McCormack-Dickstein Committee of the 1930s.NEWS, Peter Duffy, The Congressman Who Spied for Russia: The Strange Case of Samuel Dickstein, Politico,weblink October 6, 2014, September 20, 2018, September 20, 2018,weblink live, Phil Graham's friendship with John F. Kennedy remained strong until their deaths in 1963.BOOK, Chalmers McGeagh Roberts, The Washington Post: The First 100 Years,weblink September 9, 2018, 1977, Houghton Mifflin, 978-0-395-25854-5, 363, February 2, 2021,weblink live, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover reportedly told the new President Lyndon B. Johnson, "I don't have much influence with the Post because I frankly don't read it. I view it like the Daily Worker."BOOK, Michael R. Beschloss, Taking Charge: The Johnson White House Tapes, 1963–1964,weblink 1997, 32, Simon & Schuster, 978-0-684-80407-1, September 30, 2018, March 23, 2019,weblink live, BOOK, Taylor Branch, Pillar of Fire: America in the King Years 1963–65,weblink 1997, Simon & Schuster, 180, 978-1-4165-5870-5, September 18, 2018, March 23, 2019,weblink live, {{Anchor|Pravda on the Potomac}}Ben Bradlee became the editor-in-chief in 1968, and Kay Graham officially became the publisher in 1969, paving the way for the aggressive reporting of the Pentagon Papers and Watergate scandals. The Post strengthened public opposition to the Vietnam War in 1971 when it published the Pentagon Papers.NEWS, Pentagon Papers,weblink Encyclopædia Britannica, July 12, 2020, June 22, 2020,weblink live, In the mid-1970s, some conservatives referred to the Post as "Pravda on the Potomac" because of its perceived left-wing bias in both reporting and editorials.Bruce Bartlett (March 13, 2007), "Partisan Press Parity" {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110510011750weblink |date=May 10, 2011 }}. The Washington Times. Since then, the appellation has been used by both liberal and conservative critics of the newspaper.James Kirchick (February 17, 2009), "Pravda on the Potomac" {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110905065212weblink |date=September 5, 2011 }}. The New Republic.William Greider (March 6, 2003), "Washington Post Warriors" {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110515044255weblink |date=May 15, 2011 }}, The Nation

21st century

In the PBS documentary Buying the War, journalist Bill Moyers said in the year prior to the Iraq War there were 27 editorials supporting the Bush administration's desire to invade Iraq. National security correspondent Walter Pincus reported that he had been ordered to cease his reports that were critical of the administration.WEB,weblink Transcript: "Buying the War", April 25, 2007, PBS, December 13, 2009, October 1, 2017,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20171001004459weblink">weblink live, According to author and journalist Greg Mitchell: "By the Post{{'s}} own admission, in the months before the war, it ran more than 140 stories on its front page promoting the war, while contrary information got lost".WEB,weblink Eleven Years On: How 'The Washington Post' Helped Give Us the Iraq War, March 12, 2014, The Nation,weblink March 4, 2017, dead, On March 23, 2007, Chris Matthews said on his television program, "The Washington Post is not the liberal newspaper it was [...] I have been reading it for years and it is a neocon newspaper".WEB,weblink Hardball with Chris Matthews for March 23, March 26, 2007, NBC News, April 4, 2009, May 5, 2014,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20140505001030weblink">weblink live, It has regularly published a mixture of op-ed columnists, with some of them left-leaning (including E. J. Dionne, Dana Milbank, Greg Sargent, and Eugene Robinson), and some of them right-leaning (including George Will, Marc Thiessen, Michael Gerson and Charles Krauthammer).Responding to criticism of the newspaper's coverage during the run-up to the 2008 presidential election, former Post ombudsman Deborah Howell wrote: "The opinion pages have strong conservative voices; the editorial board includes centrists and conservatives; and there were editorials critical of Obama. Yet opinion was still weighted toward Obama."NEWS,weblink Remedying the Bias Perception, November 16, 2008, The Washington Post, Howell, Deborah, Deborah Howell, February 5, 2016, March 5, 2016,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20160305001212weblink">weblink live, According to a 2009 Oxford University Press book by Richard Davis on the impact of blogs on American politics, liberal bloggers link to The Washington Post and The New York Times more often than other major newspapers; however, conservative bloggers also link predominantly to liberal newspapers.BOOK,weblink Typing Politics: The Role of Blogs in American Politics, Oxford UP, 2009, 79, Richard Davis, 978-0-19-970613-6, July 2, 2015, September 11, 2015,weblink live, Since 2011, the Post has been running a column called "The Fact Checker" that the Post describes as a "truth squad".Glenn Kessler (January 1, 2017), "About the Fact Checker" {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190306013444weblink |date=March 6, 2019 }}, The Washington Post The Fact Checker received a $250,000 grant from Google News Initiative/YouTube to expand production of video fact checks.In mid-September 2016, Matthew Ingram of Forbes joined Glenn Greenwald of The Intercept, and Trevor Timm of The Guardian in criticizing The Washington Post for "demanding that [former National Security Agency contractor Edward] Snowden ... stand trial on espionage charges".WEB, Glenn Greenwald, September 18, 2016, The Intercept,weblink WashPost Makes History: First Paper to Call for Prosecution of Its Own Source (After Accepting Pulitzer), October 9, 2016, November 10, 2016,weblink live, WEB, Ingram, Matthew, Here's Why The Washington Post Is Wrong About Edward Snowden,weblink subscription, September 19, 2016, Fortune, October 9, 2016, October 11, 2016,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20161011193529weblink">weblink live, WEB, Disis, Jill,weblink CNN Business, Washington Post criticized for opposing Snowden pardon, September 18, 2016, August 3, 2020, May 27, 2020,weblink live, WEB, Trimm, Trevor,weblink The Washington Post is wrong: Edward Snowden should be pardoned, TheGuardian.com, September 19, 2016, October 9, 2016, October 22, 2016,weblink live, In February 2017, the Post adopted the slogan "Democracy Dies in Darkness" for its masthead.NEWS,weblink The Washington Post's new slogan turns out to be an old saying, Farhi, Paul, February 23, 2017, The Washington Post, February 26, 2017, January 11, 2020,weblink live,

Political endorsements

In the vast majority of U.S. elections, for federal, state, and local office, the Post editorial board has endorsed Democratic candidates.NEWS, Patrick B. Pexton,weblink Patrick Pexton: The Post's endorsements historically tend Democratic, The Washington Post, en, November 2, 2012, July 5, 2018, July 5, 2018,weblink live, The paper's editorial board and endorsement decision-making are separate from newsroom operations. Until 1976, the Post did not regularly make endorsements in presidential elections. Since it endorsed Jimmy Carter in 1976, the Post has endorsed Democrats in presidential elections, and has never endorsed a Republican for president in the general election, although in the 1988 presidential election, the Post declined to endorse either Governor Michael Dukakis (the Democratic candidate) or Vice President George H. W. Bush (the Republican candidate).NEWS,weblink Post Makes No Endorsement, The New York Times, November 2, 1988, Associated Press, September 19, 2021, November 5, 2021,weblink live, The Post editorial board endorsed Barack Obama in 2008NEWS,weblink Barack Obama for President, The Washington Post, October 17, 2008, April 4, 2009, April 22, 2009,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20090422090843weblink">weblink live, and 2012;NEWS,weblink Washington Post Endorsement: Four More Years for President Obama, The Washington Post, October 25, 2012, October 28, 2012, October 27, 2012,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20121027202419weblink">weblink live, Hillary Clinton in 2016;NEWS,weblink Hillary Clinton for President, The Washington Post, October 13, 2016, October 13, 2016, October 13, 2016,weblink live, and Joe Biden for 2020.NEWS, September 28, 2020, Joe Biden for president, en, The Washington Post,weblink October 19, 2020, October 5, 2020,weblink live, While the newspaper predominantly endorses Democrats in congressional, state, and local elections, it has occasionally endorsed Republican candidates. While the paper has not endorsed Republican candidates for governor of Virginia, it endorsed Maryland Governor Robert Ehrlich's unsuccessful bid for a second term in 2006.NEWS,weblink Wrong Choice for Governor, The Washington Post, October 26, 2006, April 4, 2009, June 29, 2011,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20110629002651weblink">weblink live, In 2006, it repeated its historic endorsements of every Republican incumbent for Congress in Northern Virginia.NEWS,weblink For Congress in Virginia, The Washington Post, October 30, 2006, April 4, 2009, August 21, 2011,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20110821080558weblink">weblink live, The Post editorial board endorsed Virginia's Republican U.S. Senator John Warner in his Senate reelection campaign in 1990, 1996 and 2002; the paper's most recent endorsement of a Maryland Republican for U.S. Senate was in the 1980s, when the paper endorsed Senator Charlies "Mac" Mathias Jr. In U.S. House of Representatives elections, moderate Republicans in Virginia and Maryland, including Wayne Gilchrest, Thomas M. Davis, and Frank Wolf, have enjoyed the support of the Post; the Post also endorsed Republican Carol Schwartz in her campaign in Washington, D.C.

Criticism and controversies

{{Multiple issues|section=yes|{{Recentism|date=May 2022}}{{Criticism section|date=August 2023}}}}

"Jimmy's World" fabrication

{{Further|Janet Cooke}}In September 1980, a Sunday feature story appeared on the front page of the Post titled "Jimmy's World" in which reporter Janet Cooke wrote a profile of the life of an eight-year-old heroin addict.NEWS,weblink Jimmy's World, Janet Cooke, September 28, 1980, The Washington Post, A1, July 9, 2016, Janet Cooke, August 22, 2016,weblink live, Although some within the Post doubted the story's veracity, the paper's editors defended it, and assistant managing editor Bob Woodward submitted the story to the Pulitzer Prize Board at Columbia University for consideration.Bill Green (April 19, 1981), "THE PLAYERS: It Wasn't a Game", The Washington Post: ""I was blown away by the story," Woodward said. . . . "Jimmy" was created, lived and vanished in Woodward's shop. . . . Woodward supported the [Pulitzer] nomination strongly. . . ."I think that the decision to nominate the story for a Pulitzer is of minimal consequence. I also think that it won is of little consequence. It is a brilliant story -- fake and fraud that it is. It would be absurd for me [Woodward] or any other editor to review the authenticity or accuracy of stories that are nominated for prizes."" {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210526031337weblink |date=May 26, 2021 }}. Cooke was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing on April 13, 1981. The story was subsequently found to be a complete fabrication, and the Pulitzer was returned.Mike Sager (June 1, 2016), "The fabulist who changed journalism", Columbia Journalism Review. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181004133952weblink |date=October 4, 2018 }}.

Private "salon" solicitation

In July 2009, in the midst of an intense debate over health care reform, The Politico reported that a health-care lobbyist had received an "astonishing" offer of access to the Post's "health-care reporting and editorial staff."Michael Calderone and Mike Allen (July 2, 2009), "WaPo cancels lobbyist event", Politico. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181011214548weblink |date=October 11, 2018 }}. Post publisher Katharine Weymouth had planned a series of exclusive dinner parties or "salons" at her private residence, to which she had invited prominent lobbyists, trade group members, politicians, and business people.Richard Pérez-Peña (July 2, 2009), "Pay-for-Chat Plan Falls Flat at Washington Post", The New York Times: "Postscript: Oct. 17, 2009 . . . Mr. Brauchli now says that he did indeed know that the dinners were being promoted as "off the record," . . . " {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180903051439weblink |date=September 3, 2018 }}. Participants were to be charged $25,000 to sponsor a single salon, and $250,000 for 11 sessions, with the events being closed to the public and to the non-Post press.Gautham Nagesh (July 2, 2009) "WaPo Salons Sell Access to Lobbyists", The Atlantic. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181011214904weblink |date=October 11, 2018 }}. Politico{{'}}s revelation gained a somewhat mixed response in WashingtonNEWS, dead, Ezra, Klein, July 6, 2009,weblink Can The Washington Post Salons Be a Good Thing?,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20211018051935weblink">weblink October 18, 2021, The Washington Post, The Washington Post really shouldn't need lobbyists for the health-care industry to act as our ombudsmen., Dan Kennedy (July 8, 2009), "Selling out the Washington Post", The Guardian: "Perhaps the most shocking thing about Washington Post publisher Katharine Weymouth's misbegotten plan to sell access to her journalists at off-the-record dinners in her own home is that so many found it so shocking." {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211009063911weblink |date=October 9, 2021 }}.Dan Kennedy (October 20, 2009), "Truth, lies and the Washington Post" {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211024133233weblink |date=October 24, 2021 }}, The Guardian:"If only we'd known that Washington Post executive editor Marcus Brauchli was talking about the 'Chatham House rule' last summer when he was explaining what he knew about those now-infamous salons." as it gave the impression that the parties' sole purpose was to allow insiders to purchase face time with Post staff.Almost immediately following the disclosure, Weymouth canceled the salons, saying, "This should never have happened." White House counsel Gregory B. Craig reminded officials that under federal ethics rules, they need advance approval for such events. Post Executive Editor Marcus Brauchli, who was named on the flier as one of the salon's "Hosts and Discussion Leaders", said he was "appalled" by the plan, adding, "It suggests that access to Washington Post journalists was available for purchase."Howard Kurtz (July 3, 2009), "Washington Post Publisher Cancels Planned Policy Dinners After Outcry" {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170102075901weblink |date=January 2, 2017 }}, The Washington Post

China Daily advertising supplements

{{Further|China Daily}}Dating back to 2011, The Washington Post began to include "China Watch" advertising supplements provided by China Daily, an English language newspaper owned by the Publicity Department of the Chinese Communist Party, on the print and online editions. Although the header to the online "China Watch" section included the text "A Paid Supplement to The Washington Post", James Fallows of The Atlantic suggested that the notice was not clear enough for most readers to see.WEB,weblink Official Chinese Propaganda: Now Online from the WaPo!, Fallows, James, The Atlantic, February 3, 2011,weblink February 7, 2011, live, Distributed to the Post and multiple newspapers around the world, the "China Watch" advertising supplements range from four to eight pages and appear at least monthly. According to a 2018 report by The Guardian, "China Watch" uses "a didactic, old-school approach to propaganda."WEB,weblink Inside China's audacious global propaganda campaign, Lim, Louisa, Bergin, Julia, The Guardian, December 7, 2018, March 21, 2020, March 10, 2020,weblink live, In 2020, a report by Freedom House, "Beijing's Global Megaphone", criticized the Post and other newspapers for distributing "China Watch".WEB,weblink Beijing's Global Megaphone, Cook, Sarah, Freedom House, March 21, 2020, March 21, 2020,weblink live, NEWS,weblink China is waging a global propaganda war to silence critics abroad, report warns, Fifield, Anna, The Washington Post, January 15, 2020, March 21, 2020, October 27, 2020,weblink live, In the same year, 35 Republican members of the U.S. Congress wrote a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice in February 2020 calling for an investigation of potential FARA violations by China Daily.WEB,weblink US lawmakers push Justice Department to investigate China Daily, label the newspaper a foreign agent, Magnier, Mark, South China Morning Post, February 8, 2020, March 21, 2020, August 11, 2020,weblink live, The letter named an article that appeared in the Post, "Education Flaws Linked to Hong Kong Unrest", as an example of "articles [that] serve as cover for China's atrocities, including ... its support for the crackdown in Hong Kong."WEB,weblink Rubio Joins Cotton, Banks, Colleagues in Urging DOJ to Investigate China Daily, Office of U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, March 21, 2020, February 7, 2020, March 22, 2020,weblink live, According to The Guardian, the Post had already stopped running "China Watch" in 2019.NEWS, Waterson, Jim, Jones, Dean Sterling, April 14, 2020, Daily Telegraph stops publishing section paid for by China, en-GB, The Guardian,weblink 0261-3077, November 23, 2020, April 15, 2020,weblink live,

Employee relations

In 1986, five employees, including Newspaper Guild unit chairman Thomas R. Sherwood and assistant Maryland editor Claudia Levy, sued The Washington Post for overtime pay, stating that the newspaper had claimed that budgets did not allow for overtime wages.NEWS, Washington Post Faces Suit Charging Abuse of Overtime,weblink The New York Times, Associated Press, October 2, 1986, A20, December 15, 2021, December 15, 2021,weblink live, In June 2018, over 400 employees of The Washington Post signed an open letter to the owner Jeff Bezos demanding "fair wages; fair benefits for retirement, family leave and health care; and a fair amount of job security." The open letter was accompanied by video testimonials from employees, who alleged "shocking pay practices" despite record growth in subscriptions at the newspaper, with salaries rising an average of $10 per week, which the letter claimed was less than half the rate of inflation. The petition followed on a year of unsuccessful negotiations between The Washington Post Guild and upper management over pay and benefit increases.WEB, Isobel Asher Hamilton,weblink More than 400 Washington Post staffers wrote an open letter to Jeff Bezos calling out his 'shocking' pay practices, Business Insider, June 15, 2018, June 18, 2018, June 18, 2018,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20180618082731weblink">weblink live, In March 2022, reporter Paul Farhi was suspended for five days without pay after he tweeted about the publication's policy on bylines and datelines regarding Russian-based stories.WEB, Beaujon, Andrew, The Washington Post Suspended a Media Reporter for Reporting on the Washington Post,weblink Washingtonian (magazine), Washingtonian, August 19, 2022, March 30, 2023, September 1, 2023,weblink live,

Felicia Sonmez

{{Further|Felicia Sonmez}}In 2020, The Post suspended reporter Felicia Sonmez after she posted a series of tweets about the 2003 rape allegation against basketball star Kobe Bryant after Bryant's death. She was reinstated after over 200 Post journalists wrote an open letter criticizing the paper's decision.NEWS, Abrams, Rachel, January 27, 2020, Washington Post Suspends a Reporter After Her Tweets on Kobe Bryant, en-US, The New York Times,weblink June 12, 2022, 0362-4331, June 12, 2022,weblink live, In July 2021, Sonmez sued The Post and several of its top editors, alleging workplace discrimination; the suit was dismissed in March 2022, with the court determining that Sonmez had failed to make plausible claims.Charlotte Klein, Judge Tosses Reporter Felicia Sonmez's Discrimination Case Against The Washington Post {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220608033647weblink |date=June 8, 2022 }}, Vanity Fair (March 28, 2022).In June 2022, Sonmez engaged in a Twitter feud with fellow Post staffers David Weigel, criticizing him over what he later described as "an offensive joke", and Jose A. Del Real, who accused Sonmez of "engaging in repeated and targeted public harassment of a colleague".Jeremy Barr, Post editor Buzbee warns staff on Twitter strife: 'Be constructive and collegial', Washington Post (June 7, 2022). Following the feud, the newspaper suspended Weigel for a month for violating the company's social media guidelines, and the newspaper's executive editor Sally Buzbee sent out a newsroom-wide memorandum directing employees to "Be constructive and collegial" in their interactions with colleagues. The newspaper fired Sonmez, writing in an emailed termination letter that she had engaged in "misconduct that includes insubordination, maligning your co-workers online and violating The Post{{'}}s standards on workplace collegiality and inclusivity."NEWS, Paul Schwartzman & Jeremy Barr, Felicia Sonmez terminated by The Washington Post after Twitter dispute, en-US, Washington Post,weblink June 12, 2022, 0190-8286, June 10, 2022,weblink live, The Post faced criticism from the Post Guild after refusing to go to arbitration over the dismissal, stating that the expiration of the Post's contract "does not relieve the Post from its contractual obligation to arbitrate grievances filed prior to expiration."

Lawsuit by Covington Catholic High School student

In 2019, Covington Catholic High School student Nick Sandmann filed a defamation lawsuit against the Post, alleging that it libeled him in seven articles regarding the January 2019 Lincoln Memorial confrontation between Covington students and the Indigenous Peoples March.NEWS, Farhi, Paul,weblink The Washington Post sued by family of Covington Catholic teenager, The Washington Post, February 19, 2019, February 19, 2019, February 20, 2019,weblink live, NEWS, Chamberlain, Samuel, Covington student's legal team sues Washington Post,weblink Fox News, February 19, 2019, February 20, 2019, February 20, 2019,weblink live, A federal judge dismissed the case, ruling that 30 of the 33 statements in the Post that Sandmann alleged were libelous were not, but allowed Sandmann to file an amended complaint as to three statements.WEB,weblink Judge to allow portion of Nick Sandmann lawsuit against Washington Post to continue, Knight, Cameron, October 28, 2019, USA Today, en-US, October 29, 2019, October 29, 2019,weblink live, After Sandmann's lawyers amended the complaint, the suit was reopened on October 28, 2019.WEB, Re, Gregg, October 28, 2019, Judge reopens Covington Catholic High student's defamation suit against Washington Post,weblink October 29, 2019, Fox News, en-US, October 29, 2019,weblink live, WEB, Knight, Cameron, October 28, 2019, Judge to allow portion of Nick Sandmann lawsuit against Washington Post to continue,weblink October 29, 2019, USA Today, en-US, October 29, 2019,weblink live, In 2020, The Post settled the lawsuit brought by Sandmann for an undisclosed amount.WEB, Nick Sandmann settles $250M lawsuit with the Washington Post,weblink July 24, 2020, MSN, August 30, 2020,weblink live,

Controversial op-eds and columns

Several Washington Post op-eds and columns have prompted criticism, including a number of comments on race by columnist Richard Cohen over the years,Andrew Beaujon, Richard Cohen Leaves the Washington Post {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809103548weblink |date=August 9, 2020 }}, Washington Post (September 23, 2019): "In the years since he displayed a remarkable ability to survive at the paper despite ...frequently stepping in it with regard to race, like the time he wrote that 'People with conventional views must repress a gag reflex when considering the mayor-elect of New York — a white man married to a black woman and with two biracial children; or the time that he wrote sympathetically about the man who killed Trayvon Martin..."Maya K. Francis, Richard Cohen's Been Gag-Worthy on Race for Years {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804234944weblink |date=August 4, 2020 }}, Philadelphia Magazine (November 13, 2013). and a controversial 2014 column on campus sexual assault by George Will.Hadas Gold, George Will slammed for sexual assault column {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809070844weblink |date=August 9, 2020 }}, Politico (June 10, 2014).Alyssa Rosenberg, George Will's distasteful conclusions about sexual assault {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210201053448weblink |date=February 1, 2021 }}, Washington Post (June 10, 2014).The Post{{'}}s decision to run an op-ed by Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, a leader in Yemen's Houthi movement, was criticized by some activists on the basis that it provided a platform to an "anti-Western and antisemitic group supported by Iran."NEWS,weblink 'Washington Post' slammed for op-ed by antisemitic Houthi leader, November 10, 2018, The Jerusalem Post, May 31, 2020, May 23, 2020,weblink live, The headline of a 2020 op-ed titled "It's time to give the elites a bigger say in choosing the president" was changed, without an editor's note, after backlash.NEWS, Fox News, Washington Post slammed, changes headline after op-ed calls for 'elites' to have 'bigger say in choosing the president',weblinkweblink February 19, 2020, October 17, 2021, Wolfsuhn, Joseph, In 2022, actor Johnny Depp successfully sued ex-wife Amber Heard for an op-ed she wrote in The Washington Post where she described herself as a public figure representing domestic abuse two years after she had publicly accused him of domestic violence.NEWS, Heard, Amber, Amber Heard: I spoke up against sexual violence — and faced our culture's wrath. That has to change,weblink The Washington Post, December 18, 2018, March 23, 2023, April 12, 2019,weblink live, WEB, Bryant, Kenzie, Johnny Depp Wins His Defamation Case Against Ex-Wife Amber Heard, Vanity Fair (magazine), Vanity Fair,weblink June 1, 2022, March 23, 2023, September 1, 2023,weblink live,

Criticism by elected officials

Former president Donald Trump repeatedly spoke out against The Washington Post on his Twitter account,NEWS, Shear, Michael D., Haberman, Maggie, Confessore, Nicholas, Yourish, Karen, Buchanan, Larry, Collins, Keith, November 2, 2019, How Trump Reshaped the Presidency in Over 11,000 Tweets, en-US, The New York Times,weblink March 25, 2022, 0362-4331, May 1, 2020,weblink live, having "tweeted or retweeted criticism of the paper, tying it to Amazon more than 20 times since his campaign for president" by August 2018.NEWS, Montanaro, Dominico, August 13, 2019, Bernie Sanders Again Attacks Amazon — This Time Pulling In 'The Washington Post', en, NPR,weblink March 25, 2022, November 27, 2019,weblink live, In addition to often attacking the paper itself, Trump used Twitter to blast various Post journalists and columnists.NEWS, Lee, Jasmine C., Quealy, Kevin, January 28, 2016, The 598 People, Places and Things Donald Trump Has Insulted on Twitter: A Complete List, en-US, The New York Times,weblink March 25, 2022, 0362-4331, During the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries, Senator Bernie Sanders repeatedly criticized The Washington Post, saying that its coverage of his campaign was slanted against him and attributing this to Jeff Bezos' purchase of the newspaper.NEWS, Katrina vanden Heuvel,weblink August 20, 2019, Bernie Sanders Has a Smart Critique of Corporate Media Bias, The Washington Post, December 22, 2019, January 1, 2020,weblink live, NEWS, Russia Is Said to Be Interfering to Aid Sanders in Democratic Primaries,weblinkweblink February 21, 2020, subscription, live, The New York Times, February 21, 2020, Sanders' criticism was echoed by the socialist magazine JacobinWEB, Higginbotham, Tim, August 27, 2019, The Washington Post's War on Bernie Continues,weblink March 25, 2022, Jacobin, en-US, March 25, 2022,weblink live, and the progressive journalist watchdog Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting.WEB,weblink If You're Looking for Evidence of WaPo Media Bias Against Bernie Sanders, Here It Is, Common Dreams, May 22, 2020, May 15, 2020,weblink live, Washington Post executive editor Marty Baron responded by saying that Sanders' criticism was "baseless and conspiratorial".NEWS, Darcy, Oliver, Grayer, Annie, Krieg, Greg, August 13, 2019, Washington Post editor responds to Bernie Sanders: Your 'conspiracy theory' is wrong, CNN,weblink November 17, 2019, November 30, 2019,weblink live,

Executive officers and editors

Major stockholders

1. Stilson Hutchins (1877–1889)
2. Frank Hatton and Beriah Wilkins (1889–1905)
3. John R. McLean (1905–1916)
4. Edward (Ned) McLean (1916–1933)
5. Eugene Meyer (1933–1948)
6. The Washington Post Company (1948–2013)
7. Nash Holdings (Jeff Bezos) (2013–present)

Publishers

1. Stilson Hutchins (1877–1889)
2. Beriah Wilkins (1889–1905)
3. John R. McLean (1905–1916)
4. Edward (Ned) McLean (1916–1933)
5. Eugene Meyer (1933–1946)
6. Philip L. Graham (1946–1961)
7. John W. Sweeterman (1961–1968)
8. Katharine Graham (1969–1979)
9. Donald E. Graham (1979–2000)
10. Boisfeuillet Jones Jr. (2000–2008)
11. Katharine Weymouth (2008–2014)
12. Frederick J. Ryan Jr. (2014–2023)
13. William Lewis (2024–present)

Executive editors

1. James Russell Wiggins (1955–1968)
2. Ben Bradlee (1968–1991)
3. Leonard Downie Jr. (1991–2008)
4. Marcus Brauchli (2008–2012)NEWS,weblink Marcus Brauchli steps down as Washington Post executive editor, Marty Baron to take over, Beaujon, Andrew, November 13, 2012, May 12, 2016, Poynter Institute, May 11, 2016,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20160511025709weblink">weblink live,
5. Martin Baron (2012–2021)WEB, Brian Stelter, Washington Post editor Marty Baron announces his retirement,weblink March 22, 2021, CNN, January 26, 2021, April 16, 2021,weblink live,
6. Sally Buzbee (2021–present)WEB, May 11, 2021, Washington Post names Sally Buzbee as executive editor, replacing Marty Baron,weblink May 11, 2021, The Guardian, en, May 11, 2021,weblink live,

See also

• 1975–76 Washington Post pressmen's strike
• All the President's Men, a 1974 book by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward about the Watergate scandal
• All the President's Men, a 1976 film based on Bernstein's and Woodward's book
• List of prizes won by The Washington Post
• The Post, a 2017 film based on the publication of the Pentagon Papers
• The Washington Star (1852–1981)
• The Washington Times (1982–present)

References

{{reflist}}

Further reading

• Kelly, Tom. The imperial Post: The Meyers, the Grahams, and the paper that rules Washington (Morrow, 1983)
• Lewis, Norman P. "Morning Miracle. Inside the Washington Post: A Great Newspaper Fights for Its Life". Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly (2011) 881 pp: 219.
• Merrill, John C. and Harold A. Fisher. The world's great dailies: profiles of fifty newspapers (1980) pp 342–52
• Roberts, Chalmers McGeagh. In the shadow of power: the story of the Washington Post (Seven Locks Pr, 1989)

External links

{{Sister project links|1=The Washington Post|collapsible=true|wikt=no|voy=no|species=no|d=Q166032|c=Category:The Washington Post|n=Category:Washington Post|q=no|s=The Washington Post|b=no|v=no}}{{Scholia|organization}}

• {{Official website}}
• {{Newseum front page|DC_WP}}
• The Washington Post Company history at Graham Holdings Company
• The Washington Post channel in Telegram
• Scott Sherman, May 2002, "Donald Graham's Washington Post" Columbia Journalism Review. September / October 2002.
• {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070102001310weblink|date=January 2, 2007|title="War Reporters – Imperial Life in the Emerald City"}}
• Jaffe, Harry. "Post Watch: Family Dynasty Continues with Katharine II", Washingtonian, February 26, 2008.
• {{citation |work=Core.ac.uk |quote= Open access research papers |url=weblink |title= Washington+Post }} {{open access}}

{{White House James S. Brady Press Briefing Room Seating Chart}}{{Navboxes|title=Pulitzer Prizes|list1={{PulitzerPrize BreakingNews 2001–2025}}{{PulitzerPrize Investigative Reporting}}{{PulitzerPrize National Reporting}}{{PulitzerPrize PublicService 1951–1975}}{{PulitzerPrize PublicService 1976–2000}}{{PulitzerPrize PublicService 2001–2025}}}}{{Jeff Bezos}}{{Authority control}}