The Story of Jeff Bezos at the Washington Post: An Update on the Times and New York Times Investigations of Lewis’ Conversations with Murdoch

At that time, Lewis had just been named publisher and CEO by Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos, but had not yet started. Lewis offered me an exclusive interview if I dropped the story about the allegations, and they had a number of heated conversations.

According to several people at the newspaper, then-Executive Editor Sally Buzbee emerged rattled from both discussions in March and in May. The New York Times reported Lewis’ efforts. The second Post article in May, which was thorough and detailed, ran just days before Lewis announced his priorities for the paper, which is financially troubled.

Lewis tries to head off coverage about him in ways that many U.S. journalists would consider deeply inappropriate.

I wrote the first comprehensive piece in December based on new documents citing a London courtroom and accusing Lewis of being involved in a scandal involving widespread criminal practices at Murdoch’s British tabloids. (Lewis has previously denied the allegations.)

The person who works for Lewis from the U.K. told me in December that there was a plan to drop the story and get the interview.

The Murdoch empire collided: a case study of a journalist arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol in the St. Petersburg Times

When the late former Post managing editor Eugene Patterson was publisher of the St. Petersburg Times, he insisted the newspaper report his arrest for driving under the influence of alcohol on the front page. NPR has its own leaders and has reported on some of their troubles.

Lewis went back to Murdoch’s media empire. He would later go on to become publisher of the Wall Street Journal, also owned by the Murdochs.

At the Telegraph, the two journalists arranged to pay a source £110,000 for a database detailing inappropriate expenses of British lawmakers at taxpayer costs. It was hailed as a huge story, leading to resignations and reforms. It was against major U.S. news outlets ethics codes to pay sources.

Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown claimed that the tabloids had committed crimes on an industrial scale. The scandal erupted into public view in 2011 when it became clear that the targets of the hacking included the victims of violent crime and veterans killed in combat.

Instead, attorneys for Prince Harry, Hollywood star Hugh Grant and several former British government officials allege that Lewis stood at the center of an effort to cover up company executives’ knowledge of those practices. The company’s records were asked for to be retained by authorities, and Lewis was accused of giving the green light to the deletion of millions of emails.

Lewis denies all wrongdoing but has declined further comment. He has not been charged with a crime or named in any civil claims. His actions remain in dispute as part of ongoing cases involving Harry and others.

The Murdoch media empire has paid over a billion dollars for the hacking scandal. Chris Huhne had scandals that had been extensively reported in the tabloids, so it made a six figure payment to him. More recently, News UK settled with Grant, who said he accepted it for “an enormous sum of money” and to avoid paying close to £10 million in legal fees.