The Washington Post has announced that Robert Winnett, the newly appointed editor, has decided to remain in the UK and will not be accepting the position, resulting in further disruptions at the troubled publication.

CEO and publisher Will Lewis informed the staff on Friday about Winnett’s decision to step back and mentioned that a search for a new candidate would commence with the assistance of a recruitment firm.

The financially struggling Post had previously revealed that Winnett was set to assume control of core newsroom operations after the upcoming US elections in November and establish a “third newsroom” focused on innovative revenue generation strategies.

Three weeks earlier, then-Executive Editor Sally Buzbee announced her resignation rather than accept a demotion to oversee the new revenue initiative. Matt Murray, a former Wall Street Journal editor, was appointed as her interim successor and potential leader of the “third newsroom”.

Following these developments, several reports questioned the journalistic ethics of both Lewis and Winnett based on their past work in the UK. Their collaboration on a series of exposés about lavish expenditures by British politicians, fed by data obtained from a purchased information company, sparked concerns about their practices, as such transactions are generally disapproved in American journalism.

The New York Times highlighted that both Lewis and Winnett were linked to stories seemingly derived from fraudulently acquired phone and business records.

This led to a revolt within the Post newsroom. Veteran journalist David Maraniss, a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner with four decades at the Post, expressed discontent among staff regarding the publisher and the incoming editor.

“The body is rejecting the transfusion,” Maraniss commented on Facebook.

Lewis, who previously held roles as a Wall Street Journal publisher and member of the Associated Press board, was recruited by Jeff Bezos earlier this year to address the Post’s significant loss of readers and revenue, which amounted to $77 million last year.

In a recent memo to senior staff, Bezos reiterated that the newspaper’s journalistic ethics would remain intact. “I know you’ve already heard this from Will, but I wanted to also weigh in directly,” he stated.

“The Post cannot operate as usual,” Bezos acknowledged. “The world is rapidly changing, and we must adapt our business accordingly.”

Maraniss clarified that the staff’s concern was about integrity, not opposition to change.

Lewis indicated that the forthcoming process and recruitment firm details for selecting Winnett’s replacement would be announced soon. The abruptness of Winnett’s hiring, without a thorough search process, had unsettled the staff.

He also affirmed that reorganisation efforts would persist.

Winnett will remain at The Daily Telegraph in London. Telegraph editor Chris Evans commented, “He’s a talented chap, and their loss is our gain,” as reported by The Guardian.