Washington Post publisher Sir Will Lewis faces a PR crisis, with his own newspaper and rivals investigating his past as a senior executive at Rupert Murdoch’s media empire.
It’s the kind of problem Lewis was until recently trying to solve for clients of his communications and consulting firm WJL Partners, named after his initials.
Founded in 2020, WJLP has hosted dinners and other events for powerful industry bosses, investors such as Sequoia Capital and politicians, and has also provided services such as preparing clients for media interviews, according to those familiar with its operations.
On its website, WJLP says it “stands with leaders who want a safe space, wise counsel and someone to answer the phone.”
The company has continued to operate even after Lewis was hired late last year to lead The Washington Post by Jeff Bezos, the Amazon founder who acquired the title in 2013.
In January, it invited contacts to an event at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, two weeks after Lewis took up his new position at the newspaper, along with Lewis and the CEO of Drax, the British energy company.
“The dinner will be an intimate gathering, bringing together a select group of senior guests from business, media and policy to discuss the role climate change will play in the 2024 elections,” the invitation promised.
According to a person close to the director, Lewis no longer has any commercial interest or involvement in WJLP, having transferred ownership to his business partners.
But in addition to keeping his initials, the PR firm has continued to regularly distribute emails from Lewis, in which he offers his opinions on global business and political events.
According to industry sources, the emails and unchanged branding have caused confusion among people in contact with the agency.
The company does not charge a fee for distribution of Lewis’s newsletter, which clearly states that Lewis is CEO and publisher of The Washington Post, according to a person close to the situation.
According to documents at Britain’s Companies House, Lewis transferred his majority stake in the company to Victoria Davies, a director of the company, late last year after Lewis was appointed by Bezos.
Davies now has a stake of between 50 and 75 percent of the company, according to the documents, matching the stake that Lewis had. Lewis declined to comment.
The company said: “WJLP is a high-level consultancy based in London. William Lewis no longer has a financial interest in WJLP as of December 29, 2023, and WJLP has no contractual relationship with The Washington Post.”
In addition to corporate clients, Lewis also provided communications advice to former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson following the 2022 ‘Partygate’ crisis – the so-called ‘Save big dog’ operation that ultimately failed to defend Johnson’s government against accusations of Covid was ignored. -19 rules during the pandemic.
Lord Ross Kempsell, Johnson’s former spokesman, who was appointed by the then Prime Minister to the House of Lords, acts as a senior adviser to WJLP but is not involved in its day-to-day operations.
One person who attended some meetings, including dinners with Lewis, described him as a top networker: “He is an extraordinary people convener [and] had a great way to help[companies]. . . he was very smart with his advice and helpful with introductions.
Lewis is a former Financial Times journalist and Telegraph editor who was CEO of Murdoch-owned Dow Jones and publisher of The Wall Street Journal from 2014 to 2020.
However, his career in journalism and communications has come under scrutiny since he was named publisher of The Washington Post in November 2023.
Lewis was appointed by Bezos to arrest mounting losses and declining readership, but he angered newsroom journalists after replacing editor-in-chief Sally Buzbee with former colleagues from the WSJ and the Telegraph.
In the wake of her departure and the announcement of his plans to overhaul the newsroom, US media have extensively covered his ties to an alleged cover-up of the phone hacking scandal that rocked Murdoch’s British news operation more than a decade ago.
He is one of several former and current News Corp employees named in a legal action brought by Prince Harry over phone hacking claims against Murdoch’s publications. Lewis has always denied any wrongdoing.
US media have also claimed that he tried to prevent The Washington Post and other US media outlets from spreading negative stories about his past, something his spokesman has denied.
Bezos sent a memo to the newspaper’s editors this week that was widely seen as supporting Lewis’ position, saying that “the world is rapidly evolving and we need to change as a company,” but that the high editorial standards would remain unchanged.
The basis of Lewis’ turnaround plan at The Washington Post, where he wants to create a “third newsroom” focused on digital and social media, also reflects his digital publishing history in Britain.
As editor-in-chief, he initiated the Daily Telegraph’s digital transformation in 2009, called the Euston Project, with the aim of creating an online product. More recently, he founded The News Movement, an online news site aimed at a younger audience.
Additional reporting by Arash Massoudi in London