That decision—made a reality a year ago this month—has proven fraught. Under Lewis’ leadership, The Post has endured a slew of setbacks. After losing roughly $77 million in 2023, it lost around $100 million in 2024, according to Vanity Fair.

Lewis’ plan for launching a “third newsroom” and assigning Buzzbee to lead it backfired, as the de facto demotion led Buzzbee to leave the outlet in June 2024. The Post tried to replace her that month, but Lewis’ top pick for the position, Robert Winnett, reneged on his acceptance after reporting resurfaced his proximity to a phone-hacking scandal in which Lewis himself is entangled. 

The situation worsened dramatically during the presidential election when The Post decided not to endorse either candidate for the first time in decades. Bezos and Lewis both characterized the decision as a return to journalistic impartiality, but the choice irked staff. 

Since then, the storied outlet has suffered an exodus of its top talent. Reporters and editors including Josh Dawsey, Ashley Parker, Tyler Pager, and Michael Scherer have fled to competitors, including The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, and Politico.

The non-endorsement also led to a wave of subscriber cancellations, with more than 250,000 subscribers canceling their payments. 

“The loss of 250,000 subscribers in the wake of The Post’s non-endorsement has highlighted the fragilities in the subscription model,” said Enders Analysis senior research analyst Abi Watson. “Acting in ways contra to a publisher’s perceived values—Democracy dies in darkness, etc—will turn off subscribers because it’s effectively acting against their own personal values.”

Bezos, Lewis, and The Post executive team have yet to offer little publicly about their vision for turning around the publisher. And now with its advertising, marketing, and technology teams slashed, its commercial capabilities will be similarly reduced.