The Washington Post laid off a third of its staff on Wednesday, eliminating its sports desk, several foreign bureaus and its book coverage in a widespread cutback that is a blow to journalism and one of its most recognizable brands.
The Post’s editorial director, Matt Murray, assured that this is a painful but necessary measure to strengthen the position of the medium and adapt to changes in user habits. “We cannot be everything to everyone,” Murray noted in a note to staff.
He detailed the changes to the entire company in an online meeting, and staff later began receiving emails telling them whether their position was eliminated or not.
Rumors of cuts had circulated for several weeks, since it was leaked that reporters who were scheduled to travel to Italy to cover the Winter Olympics would not make the trip. But when the official notice came, the magnitude of the layoffs was shocking, affecting virtually every department in the newsroom.
“This is devastating news for anyone who cares about journalism in the United States and, truth be told, around the world,” said Margaret Sullivan, a journalism professor at Columbia University and former columnist at the Post and The New York Times. “The Washington Post has been so important in so many ways in covering news, sports and culture.”
Martin Baron, who was the Post’s first editorial director under its current owner, billionaire Jeff Bezos, condemned his former boss and called what happened at the newspaper “a case study in almost instantaneous and self-inflicted brand destruction.”
Bezos, who has remained silent on calls from the Post editorial staff to intervene and prevent the cuts, did not immediately comment on the situation.
The newspaper has lost subscribers, in part due to some of Bezos’s decisions, such as withdrawing his support for Democratic candidate Kamala Harris in the 2024 election against Donald Trump and ordering a more conservative turn in the opinion pages.
The Post does not reveal its number of subscribers, although it is believed to be around two million. It also refuses to disclose the number of people on its payroll, making it impossible to estimate the total layoffs.— AP
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