If the Washington Post is to fly again, its journalists must share the cockpit

‘If Lewis is going to be successful in his quest to make the Post soar again, he’ll need to have the journalists with him all the way.’ Photograph: Pablo Martínez Monsiváis/AP

When Jeff Bezos bought the Washington Post in 2013, he said he wanted to give the storied but struggling newspaper the “runway” it needed to take off in the digital age.

A few years later, the plane seemed to be soaring. Readership was up, revenue – built on new digital subscriptions – was up, and the newsroom’s scrappy staff was trading scoops daily with the New York Times, and doing essential journalism, particularly during the campaign and administration of Donald Trump.