Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos issued his first public statement since the paper enacted mass job cuts this week, emphasising the importance of "data" and understanding reader interests. The billionaire Amazon founder indicated he wanted to apply his customer-focused approach to the Post. "Each and every day our readers give us a roadmap to success. The data tells us what is valuable and where to focus," Bezos wrote. His statement came as CEO Will Lewis stepped down, to be replaced on an interim basis by CFO Jeff D'Onofrio. The messaging echoed comments from top editor Matt Murray, who told staff the Post must focus on areas where it demonstrates "authority, distinctiveness, and impact", including politics, national affairs and national security. However, critics remain sceptical following controversies over the paper's 2024 presidential endorsement and recent opinion section changes.

The Washington Post Guild has called for Jeff Bezos to sell the publication following CEO Will Lewis' departure on Saturday. The union described Lewis' exit as "long overdue", saying his legacy would be "the attempted destruction of a great American journalism institution". Lewis left days after sweeping layoffs affected hundreds of reporters across sports, audio, international, books and DC metro sections. Laid-off journalists celebrated his departure on social media, with former culture writer Jada Yuan calling herself "thrilled" by the news. The union demanded Bezos immediately rescind the layoffs or sell the paper to someone willing to invest in its future. Unionised employees had held a "Save the Post" rally earlier this week, emphasising risks to press freedom if legacy publications like the Post cannot continue operating.

Will Lewis has resigned as publisher and CEO of the Washington Post after two years, with Chief Financial Officer Jeff D'Onofrio appointed as acting publisher. The announcement follows mass layoffs on Wednesday that cut hundreds of journalists, many covering foreign affairs. Lewis's tenure was marked by buyouts and shrinking coverage at the newspaper owned by Jeff Bezos since 2013. Employees and supporters protested outside the Post's offices on Saturday following the drastic cuts. In his first public comments since the layoffs, Bezos said readers provide "a roadmap to success" through data showing "what is valuable and where to focus". D'Onofrio previously served as CEO of Tumblr and held leadership positions at Raptive, Google, Yahoo and Major League Baseball.