Patty At The Post

Patty Stonesifer, a top lieutenant to Jeff Bezos, conspicuously returned to The Washington Post's newsroom this week, prompting chatter about what it could all mean.

Author

Oliver Darcy
January 29, 2025

The Washington Post building. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

On Tuesday, fresh off a stone-hearted snub from Jeff Bezos, some staffers at The Washington Post spotted a noteworthy visitor quietly strolling through their offices. While Bezos had rejected the request from some 400 Posties to visit their newsroom and meet with employees while he was in town for Donald Trump's inauguration, Patty Stonesifer, one of his top lieutenants, had noticeably made a trip.

Stonesifer, who briefly held the position of interim chief executive officer during the intervening period between Fred Ryan and Will Lewis' reigns, is generally well-liked and respected by the newspaper's staff. But, after she handed the baton to Lewis last January, she had been largely hands off at the storied institution. Now, with The Post unquestionably in peril, she was conspicuously back, prompting staffers to assume that Bezos himself had dispatched her to assess the situation at the newspaper.

On Tuesday, I'm told, Stonesifer met with…

The rest of this article is for paid subscribers only.

Scoop-driven reporting and unafraid analysis.

Support journalism you believe in and get complete access to Status, which is limited to paying subscribers.

Already a subscriber? Login here.

The Fourth Estate

Former CNN chief Chris Licht. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

Status Scoop | Licht in L.A.: When wildfires tore through the Los Angeles area earlier this month, Chris Licht found himself in the city eager to lend a hand. According to a tipster, the former CNN boss…

The remainder of this newsletter is for paid subscribers only.

Scoop-driven reporting and unafraid analysis. See why top media and tech professionals rely on Status.

Already a subscriber? Login here.

A subscription gets you full access to our nightly newsletter, which includes:

✅ Essential reporting on and analysis of the Fourth Estate, Silicon Valley, Hollywood, the Information Wars, and more.

✅ Hand-curated links to the most consequential stories moving the needle in the key corridors of the industry.

✅ Unlimited access to our online archive where you can read previous editions of the newsletter.