Final Days?

It’s difficult to imagine how much of modern American history would have been different were it not for the reporting of the Washington Post. The Watergate investigation alone reshaped our political history, as did scores of other big stories over the past six decades.

But now, all of that appears to be at risk. The new guys in charge, all of whom have been imported from the U.K., represent the sleazy side of tabloid junk — checkbook journalism, publishing lies, stealing documents, spying on people — which is a serious departure from the Ben Bradley era.

When it comes to ethics, I’m hardly a goodie-two-shoes, but these new guys are the Fleet Street equivalent of the National Enquirer and its tactics recently on display in Trump’s hush money scandal.

Some Post reporters are rebelling, speaking out and doing accountability reporting about their bosses. By doing so, they are putting their own jobs at risk. We should expect no less of true journalists, but it is noteworthy that this is happening at a time when jobs in journalism are hard to get and even harder to keep.

Meanwhile, the Post has lost half its audience in recent years and appears to be on the verge of collapse.

It’s difficult to imagine how modern American history would be different were it not for the reporting of the Washington Post going forward, but unfortunately we may be about to find out.

HEADLINES:

• Netanyahu disbands his war Cabinet (NBC)

• Surgeon General Calls for Warning Labels on Social Media Platforms (NYT)

• How immigrants are helping keep job growth hot while inflation cools (CNBC)

• Washington Post reporters probe their own bosses amid newsroom uproar (Axios)

• Washington Post CEO Will Lewis’ status ‘increasingly untenable’ as newsgathering controversies mount (CNN)

• New 'Washington Post' chiefs can’t shake their past in London (NPR)

• Meet the voters who will have an enormous sway in picking the next president (WP)

• The war in Gaza is wiping out entire Palestinian families, one branch at a time (AP)

• Campaigning kicked off in France for a snap parliamentary election which opinion polls suggest the far-right National Rally will win, with President Emmanuel Macron's centrist alliance coming third, behind a leftwing ticket. (Reuters)

• Sequencing a baby’s genetic code can catch conditions not spotted by traditional screening, early results from studies in North Carolina and New York show. (WP)

• Banks Are Finally Realizing What Climate Change Will Do to Housing (Wired)

• A water war is looming between Mexico and the US. Neither side will win (CNN)

• U.S. faces "serious threat" of terror attack, expert and former CIA chief warn (Axios)

• Are animals conscious? How new research is changing minds (BBC)

• The Cause That Turned Idealists Into Authoritarian Zealots (Atlantic)

• AI Is Coming for Big Tech Jobs—but Not in the Way You Think (Wired)

• Can A.I. Answer the Needs of Smaller Businesses? Some Push to Find Out. (NYT)

• Newest U.S. Aid Mission Just Single PowerBar Labeled ‘For Gaza’ Thrown Into Ocean (The Onion)