David Bauder
The Washington Post has laid off one-third of its staff, eliminating its sports section, several foreign bureaus and its books coverage in a widespread purge that represented a brutal blow to journalism and one of its most legendary brands.
The Postโs executive editor, Matt Murray, called the move painful but necessary to put the outlet on a stronger footing and weather changes in technology and user habits. โWe canโt be everything to everyone,โ Murray said in a note to staff members.
He outlined the changes in a company-wide online meeting, and staff members then began receiving emails with one of two subject lines โ their role was or was not eliminated.
One Post reporter, speaking on condition of anonymity, called it a โbloodbathโ.
The New York Times said around 300 journalists have been affected by the cuts.
Rumours of layoffs had circulated for weeks, ever since word leaked that sports reporters who had expected to travel to Italy for the Winter Olympics would not be going. But when official word came down, the size and scale of the cuts were shocking, affecting virtually every department in the newsroom.
โItโs just devastating news for anyone who cares about journalism in America and, in fact, the world,โ said Margaret Sullivan, a Columbia University journalism professor and former media columnist at the Post and The New York Times.
โThe Washington Post has been so important in so many ways, in news coverage, sports and cultural coverage.โ
Martin Baron, the Postโs first editor under its current owner, billionaire Jeff Bezos, condemned his former boss and called what has happened at the newspaper โa case study in near-instant, self-inflicted brand destructionโ.
As of midday (Washington time), the Post did not have any news of the changes on its website.
Journalists pleaded with Bezos for help
Bezos, who has been silent in recent weeks amid pleas from Post journalists to step in and prevent the cutbacks, had no immediate comment.
The newspaper has been bleeding subscribers in part due to decisions made by Bezos, including pulling back from endorsing Democratic candidate Kamala Harris for the 2024 presidential election against Donald Trump, a Republican, and directing a more conservative turn on liberal opinion pages.
A private company, the Post does not reveal how many subscribers it has, but it is believed to be roughly two million.
The Postโs troubles stand in contrast to its longtime competitor The New York Times, which has been thriving in recent years, in large part due to investments in ancillary products such as games and its Wirecutter product recommendations. The Times has doubled its staff over the past decade.
Eliminating the sports section puts an end to a department that has hosted many well-known bylines through the years, among them John Feinstein, Michael Wilbon, Shirley Povich, Sally Jenkins and Tony Kornheiser. The Times has also largely ended its sports section, but it has replaced the coverage by buying The Athletic and incorporating its work into the Times website.
The Postโs Book World, a destination for book reviews, literary news and author interviews, has been a dedicated section in its Sunday paper.
A half-century ago, the Postโs coverage of Watergate, led by intrepid reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, entered the history books. The Style section, under longtime executive editor Ben Bradlee, hosted some of the countryโs best feature writing.
โItโs just devastating news for anyone who cares about journalism in America and, in fact, the world.โ
Columbia University journalism professor Margaret Sullivan
Word of specific cuts drifted out during the day, as when Cairo bureau chief Claire Parker announced on X that she had been laid off, along with all of the newspaperโs Middle East correspondents and editors. โHard to understand the logic,โ she wrote.
Sydney bureau chief Michael Miller also confirmed on X that his job is no more. โIt was an [honour] to be @washingtonpostโs first Sydney bureau chief. Unfortunately, Iโm also the last,โ Miller posted.
In the immediate future, Murray said, the Post would concentrate on areas that demonstrate authority, distinctiveness and impact, and resonate with readers, including politics, national affairs and security. Even during its recent troubles, the Post has been notably aggressive in coverage of Trumpโs changes to the federal workforce.
The companyโs structure is rooted in a different era, when the Post was a dominant print product, Murray said in his note to staff members. In areas such as video, the outlet hasnโt kept up with consumer habits, he said.
โSignificantly, our daily story output has substantially fallen in the last five years,โ he said. โAnd even as we produce much excellent work, we too often write from one perspective, for one slice of the audience.โ
While there are business areas that need to be addressed, Baron pointed a finger of blame at Bezos for a โgutlessโ order to kill a presidential endorsement and for remaking an editorial page that stands out only for โmoral infirmityโ and โsickeningโ efforts to curry favour with Trump.
โLoyal readers, livid as they saw owner Jeff Bezos betraying the values he was supposed to uphold, fled The Post,โ Baron wrote. โIn truth, they were driven away, by the hundreds of thousands.โ
Baron said he was grateful for Bezosโ support when he was editor, noting that the Amazon founder came under brutal pressure from Trump during the presidentโs first term.
โHe spoke forcefully and eloquently of a free press and The Postโs mission, demonstrating his commitment in concrete terms,โ Baron wrote.
โHe often declared that The Postโs success would be among the proudest achievements of his life. I wish I detected the same spirit today. There is no sign of it.โ
AP, Reuters
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