The Washington Put up suspended Weigel with out pay in June.
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Washington Put up politics reporter Dave Weigel is reportedly set to affix journalist Ben Smith’s digital media startup Semafor — months after he was suspended for an off-color retweet that ignited an inner struggle on the newspaper.
Weigel is certainly one of a “variety of massive hires” whom Semafor is “near saying.” He's anticipated to affix the outlet after the 2022 midterm elections, a report mentioned Monday night time. Weigel has labored on the Washington Put up since 2015.
Sources informed the Every day Beast’s Confider e-newsletter that Weigel has grumbled to associates about his intention to go away the Washington Put up since his suspension earlier this 12 months.
Representatives for Semafor and the Washington Put up didn't instantly return requests for remark. Weigel couldn't instantly be reached for remark.
Weigel was suspended with out pay for a month in June after he retweeted a submit from a consumer who mentioned, “Each lady is bi. You simply have to determine if it’s polar or sexual.”
The retweet prompted an outraged public response by Weigel’s colleague on the time, Felicia Sonmez, who thought of the submit sexist and offensive.
Weigel eliminated the retweet and apologized, however Sonmez continued to bash the paper’s response to the state of affairs and feud with different reporters who pushed again in opposition to her public tirade. Sonmez was finally fired over her function within the saga.
In June, the Washington Put up unveiled up to date social media tips reminding its staff that any on-line posts “should not hurt the editorial integrity or journalistic popularity of The Put up.”
Semafor is predicted to launch this fall. The outlet was co-founded by Ben Smith, a former New York Occasions columnist, and Justin Smith, the previous boss of Bloomberg Media.
The worldwide startup has secured $25 million in exterior funding and plans to generate income by way of a mixture of dwell occasions, promoting and subscriptions, in response to a number of reviews.
The Every day Beast reported that Semafor had additionally tried to recruit fellow political reporters Maggie Haberman of the New York Occasions and Jonathan Swan of Axios however “got here away empty.”
Weigel’s departure would mark one other setback for paper, which has struggled by way of mounting inner turmoil in latest months.
The Jeff Bezos-owned broadsheet is ready to lose cash this 12 months following years of profitability, the New York Occasions reported, citing sources acquainted with its funds.
The corporate’s income purportedly plummeted about 15% to roughly $70 million by way of the primary half of 2022, whereas its subscriber depend has fallen beneath the three million paid digital subscribers it boasted in 2020.
Sources informed the New York Occasions that Washington Put up writer and CEO Fred Ryan has mentioned probably reducing 100 positions to slash prices — both by freezing backfills on current roles or by way of different strategies.
A spokesperson pushed again on the story, noting the report on its monetary state of affairs was incomplete and that the Washington Put up was not planning to chop its headcount.
The report additionally acknowledged that Bezos has dialed again his involvement on the Washington Put up because the COVID-19 pandemic started, although he's nonetheless “weighing in throughout budgeting season and taking part in calls.”
The Washington Put up mentioned it was “completely false” to counsel Bezos was dropping curiosity within the outlet, in response to the Occasions.
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