5 ms·

Washington Post CEO tried to kill story about himself. It wasn't the first time

84 points by jonah 2y ago

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
gnabgib 2y ago
Discussion [0] (58 comments, 23 hours ago, 25 comments) [0]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40600052 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40600052
k33n 2y ago
It's not surprising that left wing "journalists" are going out with a bang after being fired. They weaponize media to their advantage wherever allowed. If the CEO is to be believed at all, this is a completely false claim. Not surprising. All the left does is lie about people. Edit: Of course this is flagged. The left instinctively does this when they have no counter-argument
- talldayo 2y ago
  I mean, sometimes there are legitimately terrifying people who try to silence their employees by holding their power structure above them. It's not exclusively left wing or right wing, this is a phenomenon throughout history that is fairly apolitical in nature. If you Google "presidential controversy" you'll certainly find damning examples on both sides of the aisle.
  - k33n 2y ago
    There is nothing terrifying about a CEO controlling what his or her company does. The level of personal attacks and gaslighting coming from left wing employees is undeniable. Once you let them into an organization, they will destroy it. Many companies are now acting to rectify the situation. I'm certainly rooting for WaPo to shed its reputation as an activist-controlled organization. Edit: Flagged again. The left cannot stand being called out directly for their bad behavior. Accountability is what they fear the most -- and they will face it in spades!
    - hnhg 2y ago
      It’s owned by Jeff Bezos. Do you consider Amazon to be left wing?
      - k33n 2y ago
        No, I don't consider Amazon to be left wing.
    - talldayo 2y ago
      > Accountability is what they fear the most -- and they will face it in spades! We're flagging your comment because it is entirely unrelated to the topic and most people capable of reading it can determine that you're trying to be inflammatory. We refuted your nonsense rhetoric one time already, we're not going to bother paying attention to you if you don't want to expand the dialogue you pretend to care about.
- user_7832 2y ago
  This isn't specific to the "left". People abusing power is a story as old as time, no matter whether it's the media or something else used.
zer00eyz 2y ago
IF I said something truthful but unflattering about one of my CEO's, publicly (slack, personal blog post, linked in) I would expect to get fired. They weren't asked to say something nice, or make something up. This wasn't an advertiser. Leak the story somewhere else and keep your dam job.
- k33n 2y ago
  [flagged]
  - altruios 2y ago
    If the employers acted respectably: what would the left wing journalists complain about?
    - k33n 2y ago
      Who decides if the employers are acting respectably? The same left wing activists who have been lying nonstop for a decade? That's laughable.
      - altruios 2y ago
        Maybe reexamine your assumptions. Maybe the larger group of people (workers) could be telling the truth from the get-go...
- hiddencost 2y ago
  Journalism is supposed to be free of conflicts of interest. There are specific protections enshrined in American labor law to protect employees from retaliation. Business owners can't just do whatever they want.
  - zer00eyz 2y ago
    > Journalism is supposed to be free of conflicts of interest. I didn't disagree with this. >> American labor law to protect employees from retaliation There sure are. Saying bad things about your boss, in public, is not one of them. We have the right to speak freely. That mean that the government can not curtail it. It does not mean that you can Scream fire in a crowded theater. It does not mean you can slander people (Alex jones). It does not mean your employer cant fire you over what you say... saying bad things about your CEO isnt protected, neither is being a racist, or an assholee or.. > Business owners can't just do whatever they want. No they cant, there are laws... however if you shit on your company or your boss they can fire you, legally: https://nysba.org/can-you-get-fired-for-speaking-your-mind-online/#:~:text=The%20panelists%20explained%20that%20an,reveal%20trade%20secrets https://nysba.org/can-you-get-fired-for-speaking-your-mind-o....
anonfordays 2y ago
Ironic considering WaPo's header still states "Democracy dies in darkness".
- mistermann 2y ago
  Once again demonstrating that mainstream media is both trustworthy & fake, and not, simultaneously. Democracy though, that's purely legit.
- skipkey 2y ago
  Right. It’s just now that’s a goal, not something to avoid.
- zer00eyz 2y ago
  I'm just going to leave this here: https://www.lawdork.com/p/washington-post-bombshell-washington https://www.lawdork.com/p/washington-post-bombshell-washingt...
- lenkite 2y ago
  What is ironic about that ? I believe that is WAPO's openly declared mission statement.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
  - anonfordays 2y ago
    Maybe it's just hypocritical though the framing originally is ironic. Indeed it's their declared mission, but that would be like if the Nazi's mission statement was "for the betterment of the Jews."
breck 2y ago
There is a common idea expressed by quotes like: Oscar Wilde: "There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about." PT Barnum: "There's no such thing as bad publicity" And Will Lewis has done a masterful job here of demonstrating his understanding of that quote. He actually allowed 2 negative stories to be published about him in his own paper, and now we have another "negative story" (wink wink) about he "almost" didn't allow those first 2 stories to go through. Well played sir.
throw46365 2y ago
A guiding principle for the world's media should be this: do not hire anyone who was in a senior position at any UK-based Murdoch newspaper*, from the early 80s to the late 2000s. Unfortunately too many of these profoundly corrupted people have found their way into the US media after a spell laundering their reputations by working as media advisers or television media commentators or writers or whatever. Phone-hacking is barely even the start of it. The Daniel Morgan case is so, so, so much worse. These people toxify the print media landscape in the UK and (as bad and as ridiculously partisan as US media has lately become) you should keep them away. They are bad people. It's just that simple. The News Of The World in particular was so malign the only fix was to shut it down, and shutting it down was also probably expedient as it meant they weren't a going concern when the Daniel Morgan case was reviewed again. It was poison. * and verify the hell out of people who worked for the Daily Mail or Daily Mirror -- like, make them do a deposition to your in-house lawyers. This shit spread somewhat into the more traditionally conservative right-wing tabloids and into the left-wing tabloids too.
- neilv 2y ago
  I was surprised that Bezos would pick the executive for something as important as the Washington Post... from a Rupert Murdoch property, of all places. Bezos is smart, and, whether from a belief in American principles, or just optics... I don't understand taking on the risk and appearance of tainting the WaPo with key people from one of the most corrupt and toxic franchises. Is it a signaling of power and intent, in how the WaPo will now be used, with known henchperson installed? Or maybe Bezos knows some redeeming info on this talent, and it's not what it looks like? I'd love to see the Amazon-style 6-page proposal brief on this.
  - throw46365 2y ago
    This sort of illustrates the point I am making, because to US eyes in particular, and anyone with understanding of corporate scandal in general, Will Lewis looks like a minor player in News International with clean hands; he worked for the Sunday Times for a bit, and was then hired as part of the cleanup effort in 2010. So in principle he is outside the "big picture". So perhaps Bezos will have seen his time at the Telegraph, where he was something of a moderating influence, to be more important. And it may be true. But the reality is you cannot get close to the executive at News International without the blackness seeping in. They are cynicism and expedience in human form. So, as good as his intentions may be... there's probably something he doesn't want talked about. Hard to keep from getting stained. (I mean, put aside the politics of Fox News and consider the actions of Fox News, and I am here to tell you that the British Murdoch tabloids were more insidious than Fox News and -- until 2020 or so -- worse in their plain abuse of the truth) Murdoch is a uniquely toxic influence on the discourse. He makes William Randolph Hearst look like a soft-soap.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
skellington 2y ago
I hope the readers here are aware that this is just the political smear machine being turned on by WaPo employees and their political friends that don't like this guy because he told them that 'woke' doesn't sell and that WaPo is dying because of them. The timing of this NPR story is not a coincidence and is politically driven. That doesn't mean that it has no merit, but read it with a skeptical eye. The more you know....
- lelandfe 2y ago
  It would certainly be a pretty wild turn of events if the sources for this story were all lying. That the reporter themselves had already been given a quid pro quo request to drop a previous story is telling, though.
- Larrikin 2y ago
  I hope readers realize anyone using the term woke in 2024 to express an opinion can and should ignored. The term has been fully co-opted into smear that basically is a catch-all for all the terms for all the bad words that used to be used for black people, gay people, and most other minorities in the US.
  - nh23423fefe 2y ago
    woke is a slur now? lol
    - bishbosh 2y ago
      They said smear not slur, and they are pretty plainly correct considering we have everything from sitting politicians using it to describe any legislation that honestly reports US history, to youtube personalities using it to rant for hours about minorities in star wars.
  - hackeraccount 2y ago
    Woke. RIP.
- XMPPwocky 2y ago

84 points by jonah 2y ago

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

Discussion [0] (58 comments, 23 hours ago, 25 comments) [0]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40600052 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40600052

k33n 2y ago

It's not surprising that left wing "journalists" are going out with a bang after being fired. They weaponize media to their advantage wherever allowed. If the CEO is to be believed at all, this is a completely false claim. Not surprising. All the left does is lie about people. Edit: Of course this is flagged. The left instinctively does this when they have no counter-argument

talldayo 2y ago
I mean, sometimes there are legitimately terrifying people who try to silence their employees by holding their power structure above them. It's not exclusively left wing or right wing, this is a phenomenon throughout history that is fairly apolitical in nature. If you Google "presidential controversy" you'll certainly find damning examples on both sides of the aisle.
- k33n 2y ago
  There is nothing terrifying about a CEO controlling what his or her company does. The level of personal attacks and gaslighting coming from left wing employees is undeniable. Once you let them into an organization, they will destroy it. Many companies are now acting to rectify the situation. I'm certainly rooting for WaPo to shed its reputation as an activist-controlled organization. Edit: Flagged again. The left cannot stand being called out directly for their bad behavior. Accountability is what they fear the most -- and they will face it in spades!
  - hnhg 2y ago
    It’s owned by Jeff Bezos. Do you consider Amazon to be left wing?
    - k33n 2y ago
      No, I don't consider Amazon to be left wing.
  - talldayo 2y ago
    > Accountability is what they fear the most -- and they will face it in spades! We're flagging your comment because it is entirely unrelated to the topic and most people capable of reading it can determine that you're trying to be inflammatory. We refuted your nonsense rhetoric one time already, we're not going to bother paying attention to you if you don't want to expand the dialogue you pretend to care about.
user_7832 2y ago
This isn't specific to the "left". People abusing power is a story as old as time, no matter whether it's the media or something else used.

zer00eyz 2y ago

IF I said something truthful but unflattering about one of my CEO's, publicly (slack, personal blog post, linked in) I would expect to get fired. They weren't asked to say something nice, or make something up. This wasn't an advertiser. Leak the story somewhere else and keep your dam job.

k33n 2y ago
[flagged]
- altruios 2y ago
  If the employers acted respectably: what would the left wing journalists complain about?
  - k33n 2y ago
    Who decides if the employers are acting respectably? The same left wing activists who have been lying nonstop for a decade? That's laughable.
    - altruios 2y ago
      Maybe reexamine your assumptions. Maybe the larger group of people (workers) could be telling the truth from the get-go...
hiddencost 2y ago
Journalism is supposed to be free of conflicts of interest. There are specific protections enshrined in American labor law to protect employees from retaliation. Business owners can't just do whatever they want.
- zer00eyz 2y ago
  > Journalism is supposed to be free of conflicts of interest. I didn't disagree with this. >> American labor law to protect employees from retaliation There sure are. Saying bad things about your boss, in public, is not one of them. We have the right to speak freely. That mean that the government can not curtail it. It does not mean that you can Scream fire in a crowded theater. It does not mean you can slander people (Alex jones). It does not mean your employer cant fire you over what you say... saying bad things about your CEO isnt protected, neither is being a racist, or an assholee or.. > Business owners can't just do whatever they want. No they cant, there are laws... however if you shit on your company or your boss they can fire you, legally: https://nysba.org/can-you-get-fired-for-speaking-your-mind-online/#:~:text=The%20panelists%20explained%20that%20an,reveal%20trade%20secrets https://nysba.org/can-you-get-fired-for-speaking-your-mind-o....

anonfordays 2y ago

Ironic considering WaPo's header still states "Democracy dies in darkness".

mistermann 2y ago
Once again demonstrating that mainstream media is both trustworthy & fake, and not, simultaneously. Democracy though, that's purely legit.
skipkey 2y ago
Right. It’s just now that’s a goal, not something to avoid.
zer00eyz 2y ago
I'm just going to leave this here: https://www.lawdork.com/p/washington-post-bombshell-washington https://www.lawdork.com/p/washington-post-bombshell-washingt...
lenkite 2y ago
What is ironic about that ? I believe that is WAPO's openly declared mission statement.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- anonfordays 2y ago
  Maybe it's just hypocritical though the framing originally is ironic. Indeed it's their declared mission, but that would be like if the Nazi's mission statement was "for the betterment of the Jews."

breck 2y ago

There is a common idea expressed by quotes like: Oscar Wilde: "There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about." PT Barnum: "There's no such thing as bad publicity" And Will Lewis has done a masterful job here of demonstrating his understanding of that quote. He actually allowed 2 negative stories to be published about him in his own paper, and now we have another "negative story" (wink wink) about he "almost" didn't allow those first 2 stories to go through. Well played sir.

throw46365 2y ago

A guiding principle for the world's media should be this: do not hire anyone who was in a senior position at any UK-based Murdoch newspaper*, from the early 80s to the late 2000s. Unfortunately too many of these profoundly corrupted people have found their way into the US media after a spell laundering their reputations by working as media advisers or television media commentators or writers or whatever. Phone-hacking is barely even the start of it. The Daniel Morgan case is so, so, so much worse. These people toxify the print media landscape in the UK and (as bad and as ridiculously partisan as US media has lately become) you should keep them away. They are bad people. It's just that simple. The News Of The World in particular was so malign the only fix was to shut it down, and shutting it down was also probably expedient as it meant they weren't a going concern when the Daniel Morgan case was reviewed again. It was poison. * and verify the hell out of people who worked for the Daily Mail or Daily Mirror -- like, make them do a deposition to your in-house lawyers. This shit spread somewhat into the more traditionally conservative right-wing tabloids and into the left-wing tabloids too.

neilv 2y ago
I was surprised that Bezos would pick the executive for something as important as the Washington Post... from a Rupert Murdoch property, of all places. Bezos is smart, and, whether from a belief in American principles, or just optics... I don't understand taking on the risk and appearance of tainting the WaPo with key people from one of the most corrupt and toxic franchises. Is it a signaling of power and intent, in how the WaPo will now be used, with known henchperson installed? Or maybe Bezos knows some redeeming info on this talent, and it's not what it looks like? I'd love to see the Amazon-style 6-page proposal brief on this.
- throw46365 2y ago
  This sort of illustrates the point I am making, because to US eyes in particular, and anyone with understanding of corporate scandal in general, Will Lewis looks like a minor player in News International with clean hands; he worked for the Sunday Times for a bit, and was then hired as part of the cleanup effort in 2010. So in principle he is outside the "big picture". So perhaps Bezos will have seen his time at the Telegraph, where he was something of a moderating influence, to be more important. And it may be true. But the reality is you cannot get close to the executive at News International without the blackness seeping in. They are cynicism and expedience in human form. So, as good as his intentions may be... there's probably something he doesn't want talked about. Hard to keep from getting stained. (I mean, put aside the politics of Fox News and consider the actions of Fox News, and I am here to tell you that the British Murdoch tabloids were more insidious than Fox News and -- until 2020 or so -- worse in their plain abuse of the truth) Murdoch is a uniquely toxic influence on the discourse. He makes William Randolph Hearst look like a soft-soap.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

skellington 2y ago

I hope the readers here are aware that this is just the political smear machine being turned on by WaPo employees and their political friends that don't like this guy because he told them that 'woke' doesn't sell and that WaPo is dying because of them. The timing of this NPR story is not a coincidence and is politically driven. That doesn't mean that it has no merit, but read it with a skeptical eye. The more you know....

lelandfe 2y ago
It would certainly be a pretty wild turn of events if the sources for this story were all lying. That the reporter themselves had already been given a quid pro quo request to drop a previous story is telling, though.
Larrikin 2y ago
I hope readers realize anyone using the term woke in 2024 to express an opinion can and should ignored. The term has been fully co-opted into smear that basically is a catch-all for all the terms for all the bad words that used to be used for black people, gay people, and most other minorities in the US.
- nh23423fefe 2y ago
  woke is a slur now? lol
  - bishbosh 2y ago
    They said smear not slur, and they are pretty plainly correct considering we have everything from sitting politicians using it to describe any legislation that honestly reports US history, to youtube personalities using it to rant for hours about minorities in star wars.
- hackeraccount 2y ago
  Woke. RIP.
XMPPwocky 2y ago