The Washington Post announced on Wednesday it would begin mass layoffs, affecting hundreds of journalists in the newsroom.
The cuts are expected to “decimate” the organization’s sports, local news and international coverage. In an email sent to staffers by Executive Editor Matt Murray and Human Resources Chief Wayne Connell, employees were instructed to stay home but attend a Zoom meeting to learn about “significant actions.”
According to two people with knowledge of the decision, the company is laying off approximately 30 percent of all its employees—including more than 300 of roughly 800 journalists. The layoffs signal that Jeff Bezos, who became one of the world’s richest people by selling things on the internet, has yet to figure out how to build and maintain a profitable online publication. While the paper expanded during the first several years of his ownership, recent performance has sputtered.
Murray stated in a Wednesday morning call with newsroom employees that the company had lost too much money for too long and had not been meeting readers’ needs. He said all sections would be affected in some way, resulting in a publication focused more on national news and politics, business and health while shrinking coverage elsewhere.
“If anything, today is about positioning ourselves to become more essential to people’s lives in what is becoming more crowded, competitive and complicated media landscape,” Murray said. “And after some years when, candidly, The Post has had struggles.”
Murray noted the sports section would close though some reporters would move to cover the culture of sports; the metro section would shrink, and the books section and daily news podcast “Post Reports” would close.
The Washington Post Guild, which represents hundreds of newsroom employees, stated: “These layoffs are not inevitable. A newsroom cannot be hollowed out without consequences of its credibility, reach and future.” The guild warned that continuing to eliminate workers would weaken the newspaper, drive away readers and undercut The Post’s mission to hold power to account without fear or favor and provide critical information for communities.
The announcement follows recent scrutiny over newsroom budget decisions, including shifting plans around Winter Olympics coverage. The company initially informed more than a dozen journalists it would not send them to cover the Games in Italy but reversed course after public criticism.
Former Washington Post editor Marty Baron called Wednesday’s announcement “ranks among the darkest days in the history of one of the world’s greatest news organizations.” Ahead of the layoffs, members from The Post’s local desk wrote in an open letter dated January 27 urging leadership to preserve local coverage, stating they had been warned their section would be “decimated” and left “unrecognizable.”
