--- title: "Candidates to Run Washington Post Withdraw After Being Asked How They’d Use AI to Run the Newspaper" description: "After its pivot to AI earlier this year, the Washington Post's CEO is now turning off editorial candidates by asking about AI." date: "2024-12-18" modified: "2024-12-18" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/wapo-candidates-ai" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" tags: - "ai journalism" - "journalism" - "the digest" - "the washington post" --- # Candidates to Run Washington Post Withdraw After Being Asked How They’d Use AI to Run the Newspaper ![After its pivot to AI earlier this year, the Washington Post's CEO is now turning off editorial candidates by asking about AI.]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* ## Pivotal Moment After its controversial [pivot to AI earlier this year](), the *Washington Post*'s CEO is now turning off editorial candidates by asking them how they would use the technology to run the newspaper. As [*Axios* reports based on insider sources](), two candidates for an executive editor position that would run the paper withdrew themselves from consideration after its publisher and CEO Will Lewis, who was selected by owner Jeff Bezos to "[save" the paper]() — and who [issued the AI edict]() soon into his tenure — had them lay out their own strategies for using the tech. Those candidates — Pulitzer Prize-winning *New York Times* executive Cliff Levy and Anne Kornblut of Meta, who used to be a *WaPo* editor — were apparently not impressed by Lewis' ask. According to *Axios*' sources, whose names were not published, Levy withdrew his candidacy last week, and Kornblut did so in September. Some candidates for the position were also asked to pen six-page memos about their vision for *WaPo*, including how they would incorporate AI and how they would grow its [shrinking audience](). As *Axios* notes, [Bezos champions the six-page memo]() as a hiring tool. ## Hasty Retreat News of these candidacy withdrawals comes soon after *WaPo* managing editor Matea Gold announced that she is [going to the *NYT*]() to become its Washington editor. The editor who oversaw the paper's [Pulitzer-winning January 6 investigation](), Gold was purportedly a favorite pick among staff for the executive editor position — but as [insider sources told *NPR*](), Lewis was poised to pass her over for the newsroom-running gig. With the circumstances surrounding that exit, staffers are reportedly concerned whether the newspaper will keep up that level of excellence and fearlessness, especially while its publisher is [seemingly all-in on AI](). The newspaper's hiring agency, Egon Zehnder, also reached out to former *WaPo* managing editors Kevin Merida and Steven Ginsberg about the executive editor position. As *Axios* confirmed, neither was interested. Generally speaking, media hiring processes are rarely this publicized — so the leak of this information about Levy and Kornblut seems to indicate how frustrated *WaPo* staffers are with the way the paper is being run. **More on WaPo:** [*Jeff Bezos Cosplays as Humble Newspaperman*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()