How much longer can The Washington Post bleed talent?

The mass exodus continues at The Washington Post. Opinion writers, columnists and prominent names are fleeing the Post, accepting buyouts that seemed to be specifically designed to cut down on the number of opinion writers at the paper.

This should come as no surprise and, actually, might not be all that disappointing to the leadership at The Washington Post, which has faced internal turmoil for more than a year.

It was just over a year ago that Sally Buzbee left as executive editor — ahead of what she surely saw as a major shakeup at the paper. Things really turned topsy-turvy when owner Jeff Bezos decided to kill the editorial board’s endorsement of Kamala Harris for president.

Since then, there has been one bad headline after another: resignations, complaints about publisher Will Lewis and more battles with Bezos. Back in February, just after Donald Trump moved back into the White House, Bezos announced the Post’s opinion section would focus on two topics: personal liberties and free markets, and that it would not publish any opposing views on those topics. Immediately, well-respected opinion editor David Shipley resigned.

The Post recently offered buyouts, and Lewis told staff in a memo earlier this month that those “who do not feel aligned with the company's plan” should reconsider the buyouts.

And so, in the midst of all of this, the Post has seen a number of high-profile writers leave.

Axios’ Sara Fischer reported Tuesday that columnists David Von Drehle, Molly Roberts and Jonathan Capehart are taking buyouts. (I wrote about Capehart in Tuesday’s newsletter.) Also leaving: Drew Goins, newsletter writer and editor for the section. Longtime columnist Philip Bump said last week that he accepted a buyout. And, Fischer wrote, “Monica Hesse hasn't signed buyout papers but doesn't plan to remain in the opinion section, a source told Axios. Some opinion staffers are also considering shifts into the Post's main newsroom, sources told Axios.”

Others also have left, including longtime Washington reporter Dan Balz and Ann Marimow, who covered the Supreme Court. Marimow is headed to The New York Times.

Fischer wrote, “Opinion staffers told Axios the lucrative buyouts appear designed, in part, to help the Post cut down on the number of columnists it employs full time in favor of more audio and video talent.”

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Meanwhile …

Here’s another major departure for the Post. The New York Times’ Benjamin Mullin reported Tuesday that Dave Jorgenson, known as “The Washington Post TikTok Guy” for his social media posts about the news, is leaving to start his own venture. Mullin writes it will be “based on his personal YouTube channel, Local News International, which blends the topical wit of ‘The Daily Show With Jon Stewart’ with the surreal antics of Ron Burgundy, the fictional star of ‘Anchorman.’ Joining him are two former colleagues: Micah Gelman, who until recently was The Post’s director of video, and Lauren Saks, Mr. Gelman’s former deputy.”

The move seemed to be in the works — at least in Jorgenson’s mind — for a while. He told Mullin, “The reason I didn’t do this three years ago or four years ago is that there was a fear of failure. But I’m not as scared of failing anymore.”

But Jorgenson also mentioned the instability at the Post. He described it as having an “inconsistent vision” and an uncertain future for colleagues in graphics and audio. He told Mullin, “I am just not convinced that they have the best road map right now.”

A major shift at NPR

Just days after Congress voted to go along with President Donald Trump and cut federal funding to public broadcasting, the top editor at National Public Radio announced she is stepping down.

Edith Chapin, NPR's editor-in-chief and acting chief content officer, told colleagues on Tuesday that she is leaving. And while the timing only adds to the uncertainty of NPR’s future, several reports insist that Chapin’s decision was not directly tied to Congress stripping the Corporation for Public Broadcasting of $1.1 billion for NPR, PBS and member stations over the next two years.

NPR media reporter David Folkenflik wrote, “Chapin says the choice was hers and not driven by the action in Congress. In a brief interview, she says she surprised NPR CEO Katherine Maher with her decision two weeks ago.”

Chapin told Folkenflik, “I have had two big executive jobs for two years and I want to take a break. I want to make sure my performance is always top-notch for the company.”

Chapin, 59, joined NPR from CNN as international editor in 2012. She moved up the ranks and has been NPR’s top editor since 2023. Chapin told colleagues in a note, “I love journalism, it has been my life for more than 35 years, and I will keep championing it for many more years. I will reset after a few months of a career break.”

In a memo to staff, Maher wrote, “Edith has been an indispensable partner during my first year at NPR, a steady leader for a large part of this organization, and a fantastic collaborator as a member of the executive team.”

No official announcements have been made about replacing Chapin, even on an interim basis. Maher told staff in the note that she would share more information at another time.

As The New York Times’ Benjamin Mullin noted, “Ms. Chapin’s resignation means that Ms. Maher will need to fill two top roles. In addition to overseeing NPR’s news efforts, Ms. Chapin has a say over its essential and growing podcasting business as the executive in charge of content.”

Chapin says she will stay in NPR until September or October. Federal funding for public broadcasting is expected to end with the start of the new fiscal year, which begins on Oct. 1.

News fixer-upper available — marked down for quick sale

For this item, I turn it over to my colleague Rick Edmonds, Poynter’s media business analyst.

Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, the capricious owner of the Los Angeles Times, announced Monday night that he intends to convert the outlet to public ownership. He chose an unusual venue to break the news, an interview with Jon Stewart on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show.”

An initial public offering of stock is not imminent, Soon-Shiong said, but he has engaged advisers to help put together terms for a deal. As The New York Times reported, an array of details were left vague, including whether Soon-Shiong would aim to maintain a large stake in the public company for himself.

The truly baffling part, though, is how in the world he imagines going public is a match for the Times’ situation. Typically, initial public offerings allow founders who have put together a business with a still-growing, big base of customers to cash in. Plus, it’s a vehicle to raise capital for major expansion.

But who wants to buy into a particularly troubled franchise in a declining industry? Soon-Shiong, whose business is biotech, paid $500 million to acquire the Times from Tronc/Tribune in 2018. There’s no telling what a fair valuation would be now, but The Dallas Morning News sold to Hearst for $70 million in an agreement earlier this month.

The Times has not flourished under Soon-Shiong’s stewardship. He has complained openly about the unsustainability of multimillion-dollar annual losses. In tinkering amateurishly with various alternatives to right the ship, he has chased off respected journalists including executive editor Kevin Merida, managing editor Kimi Yoshino and all of the opinion section’s editorial board.

Soon-Shiong could be pursuing a subtle strategy of putting the Times in play in hopes of attracting a rich local buyer or a fund with a taste for distressed properties. More likely, though, he will keep living the quip, “To make a small fortune in the newspaper business, start with a large one.”

Still banned

A federal judge in Washington has denied an appeal from The Associated Press, meaning President Donald Trump can continue to ban the AP from covering him at certain events. The Trump administration imposed the ban months ago when the AP continued to use the name “Gulf of Mexico” instead of “Gulf of America.”

The AP won an initial court battle when a judge ruled it could not be banned for its coverage. But an appeals court blocked that ruling. Along the way, the White House took over control of who would be in the press pool.

In his opinion this week, Judge Justin Walker wrote, “Whether to embrace these name changes — or even to keep track of them — is at least in part a political choice. So this case about the AP’s refusal to say ‘Gulf of America’ is a case about the AP’s political speech.”

Then, just this week, the White House banned The Wall Street Journal from the group of pool reporters because it was upset over a story that tied Trump to Jeffrey Epstein.

Katie Fallow, deputy litigation director at the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, said in a statement, “We’re disappointed that the D.C. Circuit has refused to reconsider its earlier stay decision, which effectively allows the White House to continue banning reporters from the press pool in retaliation for their reporting. The effect of this troubling precedent was demonstrated just (Monday) when the White House expelled the Wall Street Journal from an overseas trip press pool in retaliation for its reporting on a letter allegedly tying the president to Jeffrey Epstein. These kinds of viewpoint-based exclusions undermine press freedom as well as the public’s access to reliable information about the president and his policies.”

Speaking of The Wall Street Journal’s ban, The New York Times put out a statement supporting its competitor, saying, “The White House’s refusal to allow one of the nation’s leading news organizations to cover the highest office in the country is an attack on core constitutional principles underpinning free speech and a free press. Americans regardless of party deserve to know and understand the actions of the president, and reporters play a vital role in advancing that public interest. This is simple retribution by a president against a news organization for doing reporting that he doesn’t like. Such actions deprive Americans of information about how their government operates.”

Late night pushback

In case you missed it, here’s Jon Stewart’s monologue on his “Daily Show” on Comedy Central about Stephen Colbert’s CBS late-night show being canceled.

While it features plenty of Stewart’s humor, he said this to Paramount, which not only owns CBS (Colbert’s network), but also Comedy Central: “If you believe, as corporations or as networks, you can make yourselves so innocuous, that you can serve a gruel so flavorless that you will never again be on the boy king's radar, A, why will anyone watch you, and you are (expletive) wrong.”

Meanwhile, Colbert talked more about the cancellation on his Monday night show. His reaction to Trump celebrating his firing? “Go (expletive) yourself,” Colbert said.

For more on the late-night reaction, here’s the Los Angeles Times’ Alexandra Del Rosario with “As Stephen Colbert drops F-bomb on gloating Trump, late-night counterparts join the fray.”

Hey, hey, over there!

Because the Jeffrey Epstein story isn’t going away, Donald Trump continues to hold up shiny objects as a distraction. Among his latest is the NFL’s Washington Commanders changing their name back to the one many found racially insensitive. Trump has even threatened to block the Commanders’ plans of building a new stadium — although it’s not clear that he can really do anything about that.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked Tuesday if Trump was serious, and she said he was. She added, “Sports is one of the many passions of this president and he wants to see the name of that team changed.”

USA Today columnist Nancy Armour wrote, “Do not fall for Donald Trump’s latest con. Do you really think he cares one bit about what the NFL team in Washington calls itself? Or whether Cleveland’s baseball team goes by the Guardians or something else? In fact, I’d venture to guess Trump couldn’t even have told you what Cleveland’s current nickname was a few days ago.”

Armour added, “He's like the Wizard of Oz, only with more racism and a dog whistle instead of a curtain. Which should be obvious to all but his most-diehard supporters.”

Media tidbits

• The Washington Post’s Jeremy Barr with “As Trump comes for Murdoch media, Fox News faces a bind.”
• Angie Drobnic Holan, director of the International Fact-Checking Network, with “Google backs away from search result snippets that address falsehoods.”
• Axios’ Sara Fischer with “WaPo pivots ‘third newsroom’ to a more commercial venture.”
• Leading off some sports media tidbits, the WNBA All-Star Game ratings were somewhat hurt by the absence of Caitlin Clark, who was injured and didn’t play. The game drew 2.19 million viewers on ABC — a 36% drop from a year ago when Clark and a select team played the U.S. Olympic team. However, the 2.19 million is still just the second WNBA All-Star Game to draw at least 2 million viewers. And, that number is impressive compared to the 850,000 in 2023 when Clark was still in college.
• “The Rich Eisen Show” will be available nationally on ESPN Radio, as well as Disney+ and ESPN+ (on select days) starting in September. It will air from noon to 3 p.m. Eastern. Eisen was a longtime ESPN anchor until leaving for the NFL Network in 2003.
• Golf analyst Ian Baker-Finch is retiring after 19 years at CBS Sports and 30 years in the industry. He will do two more tournaments for CBS. In a statement, Baker-Finch said, “I carry with me immense gratitude and pride for the moments we’ve shared on and off the course. Here’s to new adventures and the enduring love of golf.” The Australian native played professionally from 1979 until his retirement from the game in 1997. He won the 1991 British Open.

Hot type

• Ozzy Osbourne — rock-and-roll’s “Prince of Darkness,” heavy metal legend and former lead singer of the band Black Sabbath — has died just weeks after his farewell concert. He was 76. Osbourne has been battling Parkinson’s disease for years. Here’s a remembrance in The New York Times from Gavin Edwards.

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