Washington Post cuts a third of its staff in a blow to a legendary news brand

The Washington Post laid disconnected one-third of its unit Wednesday, eliminating its sports section, respective overseas bureaus and its books sum successful a wide purge that represented a brutal stroke to journalism and 1 of its astir legendary brands.

The Post's enforcement editor, Matt Murray, called the determination achy but indispensable to enactment the outlet connected stronger footing and upwind changes successful exertion and idiosyncratic habits. “We can't beryllium everything to everyone,” Murray said successful a enactment to unit members.

He outlined the changes successful a companywide online meeting, and unit members past began getting emails with 1 of 2 taxable lines — telling them their relation was oregon was not eliminated.

Rumors of layoffs had circulated for weeks, ever since connection leaked that sports reporters who had expected to question to Italy for the Winter Olympics would not beryllium going. But erstwhile authoritative connection came down, the size and standard of the cuts were shocking, affecting virtually each section successful the newsroom.

“It's conscionable devastating quality for anyone who cares astir journalism successful America and, successful fact, the world,” said Margaret Sullivan, a Columbia University journalism prof and erstwhile media columnist astatine the Post and The New York Times. “The Washington Post has been truthful important successful truthful galore ways, successful quality coverage, sports and taste coverage.”

Martin Baron, the Post's archetypal exertion nether its existent owner, billionaire Jeff Bezos, condemned his erstwhile brag and called what has happened astatine the paper “a lawsuit survey successful near-instant, self-inflicted marque destruction.”

As of midday, the Post did not person immoderate quality of the changes connected its website.

Journalists pleaded with Bezos for help

Bezos, who has been soundless successful caller weeks amid pleas from Post journalists to measurement successful and forestall the cutbacks, had nary contiguous remark Wednesday.

The paper has been bleeding subscribers successful portion owed to decisions made by Bezos, including pulling backmost from an endorsement of Kamala Harris, a Democrat, during the 2024 statesmanlike predetermination against Donald Trump, a Republican, and directing a much blimpish crook connected wide sentiment pages.

A backstage company, the Post does not uncover however galore subscribers it has, but it is believed to beryllium astir 2 million. The Post would besides not accidental however galore radical it has connected staff, making it intolerable to estimation however galore radical were laid disconnected Wednesday. The Post besides did not outline its finances.

The Post’s troubles basal successful opposition to its longtime rival The New York Times, which has been thriving successful caller years, successful ample portion owed to investments successful ancillary products specified arsenic games and its Wirecutter merchandise recommendations. The Times has doubled its unit implicit the past decade.

Eliminating the sports conception puts an extremity to a section that has hosted galore well-known bylines done the years, among them John Feinstein, Michael Wilbon, Shirley Povich, Sally Jenkins and Tony Kornheiser. The Times has besides mostly ended its sports section, but it has replaced the sum by buying The Athletic and incorporating its enactment into the Times website.

The Post’s Book World, a destination for publication reviews, literate quality and writer interviews, has been a dedicated conception successful its Sunday paper.

A half-century ago, the Post's sum of Watergate, led by intrepid reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, entered the past books. The Style conception nether longtime Executive Editor Ben Bradlee hosted immoderate of the country's champion diagnostic writing.

All Mideast correspondents and editors laid off

Word of circumstantial cuts drifted retired during the day, arsenic erstwhile Cairo Bureau Chief Claire Parker announced connected X that she had been laid off, on with each of the newspaper's Middle East correspondents and editors. “Hard to recognize the logic,” she wrote.

In the contiguous future, Murray said, the Post would ore connected areas that show authority, distinctiveness and impact, and resonate with readers, including politics, nationalist affairs and security. Even during its caller troubles, the Post has been notably assertive successful sum of Trump's changes to the national workforce.

The company's operation is rooted successful a antithetic era, erstwhile the Post was a ascendant people product, Murray said successful his enactment to unit members. In areas specified arsenic video, the outlet hasn't kept up with user habits, helium said.

“Significantly, our regular communicative output has substantially fallen successful the past 5 years,” helium said. “And adjacent arsenic we nutrient overmuch fantabulous work, we excessively often constitute from 1 perspective, for 1 portion of the audience.”

While determination are concern areas that request to beryllium addressed, Baron pointed a digit of blasted astatine Bezos — for a “gutless” bid to termination a statesmanlike endorsement and for remaking an editorial leafage that stands retired lone for “moral infirmity” and “sickening” efforts to curry favour with Trump.

“Loyal readers, livid arsenic they saw proprietor Jeff Bezos betraying the values helium was expected to uphold, fled The Post,” Baron wrote. “In truth, they were driven away, by the hundreds of thousands."

Baron said helium was grateful for Bezos' enactment erstwhile helium was editor, noting that the Amazon laminitis came nether brutal unit from Trump during the president's archetypal term.

“He spoke forcefully and eloquently of a escaped property and The Post's mission, demonstrating his committedness successful factual terms,” Baron wrote. “He often declared that The Post's occurrence would beryllium among the proudest achievements of his life. I privation I detected the aforesaid tone today. There is nary motion of it.”

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David Bauder writes astir the intersection of media and amusement for the AP. Follow him astatine http://x.com/dbauder and https://bsky.app/profile/dbauder.bsky.social.

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