At their best, these corporate branding exercises force companies to decide what they're selling. And the Post is in desperate need of a clear pitch, lest it simply be seen as a cheaper, lower-quality version of The New York Times.
Lewis has suggested he'll attempt to retake the Washington Post's lucrative Beltway turf from outlets like Politico with new "pro" subscriptions; that he'll go broad in search of 100 million subscribers; that he'll do more to market the Post's lifestyle coverage; that he'll restore the Post's preeminence as Washington, D.C.'s local newspaper; and that he'll reach new audiences through a social media operation branded a "Third Newsroom."
But in the meantime, Lewis is defending his own brand as the New York Times, NPR, and other outlets dig into his complex career in Britain, where he and his former colleague, Rob Winnett, "acted unethically by US standards," as NPR's David Folkenflik put it. The New York Times reported Saturday that Lewis personally reported on phone records that the Times of London obtained by hiring a private investigator who impersonated its target to the phone company.
One question will be whether - as, in particular, with paying for the expenses material - Lewis and Winnett were pursuing true public-interest journalism by the rules as they existed in their market, or whether they were violating even looser British norms.
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