A top Washington Post editor ordered staffers not to promote or “distribute” a story detailing Prince Harry’s allegations about the paper’s new CEO’s role in a phone hacking controversy, Radar reports.
This week, a London High Court judge blocked the royal from adding media tycoon Rupert Murdoch and journalist Piers Morgan to his ongoing phone hacking lawsuit against News Group Newspapers but ruled that he could introduce amendments alleging that William Lewis, a former News Corp. executive who became CEO and publisher of The Post in January, helped cover up the scandal.
A London High Court judge blocked Prince Harry this week from adding media tycoon Rupert Murdoch and journalist Piers Morgan to his phone hacking lawsuit.
Although The Washington Post did cover the ruling with a story that reported on Lewis’ involvement, noting his repeated denials of wrongdoing, Semafor reports that newsletter strategy director Elana Zak directed staffers to downplay it.
“Don’t distribute this story,” she allegedly wrote in the subject line of an email to Washington Post staff containing a link to the piece, adding,
“Please do not put this Prince Harry story in any of your newsletters,” newsletter strategy director Elana Zak directed staffers.
Per a statement from The Post‘s managing editor Matea Gold, “The Washington Post is committed to covering this topic and all stories – independently, rigorously and fairly. We had routine discussions about the promotion of this piece across our platforms.”
A Post employee familiar with the situation reportedly told Semafor that the email, which contained no further information or explanation, was the result of an internal miscommunication between editors at the paper.
Lewis, 55, is a a longtime British media executive and former publisher of The Wall Street Journal who was named as the replacement for The Post‘s outgoing CEO and publisher Fred Ryan in late 2023.
Prince Harry and 40 other plaintiffs have alleged as part of a years-long lawsuit against Murdoch’s News Corp that Lewis helped carry out and justify a plan to delete millions of emails during an investigation into the phone hacking scandal.
He told the BBC in 2020 that the “allegation that I was involved in any wrongdoing is completely untrue” and that his “role was to put things right, and that is what I did.”