Candidates to Run Washington Post Withdraw After Being Asked How They’d Use AI to Run the Newspaper

That pivot to AI isn't working out too well, huh?

Pivotal Moment

After its controversial pivot to AI earlier this year, the Washington Post's CEO is now turning off editorial candidates by asking them how they would use the technology to run the newspaper.

As Axios reports based on insider sources, two candidates for an executive editor position that would run the paper withdrew themselves from consideration after its publisher and CEO Will Lewis, who was selected by owner Jeff Bezos to "save" the paper — and who issued the AI edict soon into his tenure — had them lay out their own strategies for using the tech.

Those candidates — Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times executive Cliff Levy and Anne Kornblut of Meta, who used to be a WaPo editor — were apparently not impressed by Lewis' ask. According to Axios' sources, whose names were not published, Levy withdrew his candidacy last week, and Kornblut did so in September.

Some candidates for the position were also asked to pen six-page memos about their vision for WaPo, including how they would incorporate AI and how they would grow its shrinking audience. As Axios notes, Bezos champions the six-page memo as a hiring tool.

Hasty Retreat

News of these candidacy withdrawals comes soon after WaPo managing editor Matea Gold announced that she is going to the NYT to become its Washington editor. The editor who oversaw the paper's Pulitzer-winning January 6 investigation, Gold was purportedly a favorite pick among staff for the executive editor position — but as insider sources told NPR, Lewis was poised to pass her over for the newsroom-running gig.

With the circumstances surrounding that exit, staffers are reportedly concerned whether the newspaper will keep up that level of excellence and fearlessness, especially while its publisher is seemingly all-in on AI.

The newspaper's hiring agency, Egon Zehnder, also reached out to former WaPo managing editors Kevin Merida and Steven Ginsberg about the executive editor position. As Axios confirmed, neither was interested.

Generally speaking, media hiring processes are rarely this publicized — so the leak of this information about Levy and Kornblut seems to indicate how frustrated WaPo staffers are with the way the paper is being run.

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