US: After weeks of anxiety inside its newsroom, The Washington Post have announced a sweeping round of layoffs, cutting roughly one-third of its workforce across departments.
Executive Editor Matt Murray described the move as ‘painful’ but unavoidable, telling employees the paper was undergoing a ‘strategic reset’ to survive in an increasingly crowded and fast-changing media landscape. Speaking during a companywide Zoom call, Murray said the decisions would hurt not only those losing their jobs but the entire organisation. “Today, the Washington Post is taking a number of actions to secure our future,” he said.
Major Sections Cut, Bureaus Scaled Back
The layoffs have led to the elimination of the paper’s sports section, its books coverage, and several foreign bureaus. International reporting will be sharply reduced, though about 12 bureaus will remain, largely focused on national security. The popular daily podcast Post Reports has also been suspended.
Staff learned their fate through emails sent after the meeting, with subject lines informing them whether their roles had been eliminated. Rumours of layoffs had circulated for weeks, but the scale of the cuts stunned many. Virtually every newsroom department was affected.
The layoffs came despite repeated appeals from employees to owner Jeff Bezos. Beginning January 25, staff sent at least three letters urging him to protect foreign, local and White House coverage.
In one letter, employees warned that further cuts to local reporting, already halved over the past five years, would have lasting consequences for the region. White House reporters also urged Bezos to preserve core coverage areas.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the layoffs reflected a broader pattern of newsroom hollowing across the country. “When newsrooms are weakened, our republic is weakened,” she said.
The Post’s struggles stand in contrast to rival The New York Times, which has expanded its workforce and diversified revenue through products such as games and shopping recommendations. The Post, which is believed to have about two million subscribers, does not disclose staff numbers or financial details.
Critics have linked the paper’s subscriber losses to recent editorial decisions under Bezos, including pulling back from endorsing Democrat Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election and shifting opinion pages in a more conservative direction.
Murray said the paper would now focus on areas where it has the strongest authority and impact, including politics, national affairs and security. He acknowledged that the organisation remains shaped by an earlier print-focused era and has struggled to keep pace with changing audience habits.
Nearly 150 years after its founding, and decades after defining moments such as its Watergate investigation, the Washington Post now faces one of the most uncertain chapters in its history.
