Layoffs Target Multiple Sections
The Washington Post said it will cut about one third of its workforce, a move that will sharply reduce coverage of sports and foreign news and affect employees across several departments, with the sports, local, and foreign sections hit hardest.
The cuts were announced on Wednesday and mark another major change for the US newspaper, which is owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Executive editor Matt Murray said the reductions would bring “stability,” but the decision drew criticism from staff and former leaders.
“Today’s news is painful. These are difficult actions,” Murray wrote in a note to employees. “If we are to thrive, not just endure, we must reinvent our journalism and our business model with renewed ambition.”
Management Cites Traffic Decline And Structural Issues
Murray said the paper’s online traffic has fallen over the past three years during the rise of artificial intelligence and that the organisation is “too rooted in a different era.” He added that despite producing strong work, the newsroom often writes “from one perspective, for one slice of the audience.”
Before the announcement, foreign correspondents and local reporters had appealed to Bezos to protect their jobs. The Washington Post Guild said in a statement that “continuing to eliminate workers only stands to weaken the newspaper, drive away readers and undercut The Post’s mission.”
Reaction From Journalists And Former Editors
Journalists who were laid off posted on social media, with many criticising the decision to scale back foreign coverage. The paper’s former Cairo bureau chief said she was dismissed along with the entire group of Middle East correspondents and editors. A correspondent based in Ukraine said she lost her job “in the middle of a warzone.” Another reporter said most of the metro section, which covers the Washington DC area, was also laid off.
Marty Baron, who served as editor until 2021, said the move ranked “among the darkest days in the history of one of the world’s greatest news organizations.” He said Bezos, who bought the paper for $250m in 2013, had spoken “forcefully and eloquently of a free press” during Baron’s time as editor, which included President Donald Trump’s first term in office. “I wish I detected the same spirit today. There is no sign of it,” Baron said.
A spokesperson for The Post said the steps were “designed to strengthen our footing and sharpen our focus.”
Recent Turmoil And Subscriber Losses
The layoffs follow several rounds of staff cuts and buyouts in recent years and come after backlash over editorial decisions. The paper lost tens of thousands of subscribers after it said shortly before the 2024 US presidential election that it would not endorse a candidate, a choice made by Bezos. The decision ended a practice in place since the 1970s, when the paper had backed a candidate in most presidential races, all of them Democrats.
Bezos also shifted the focus of the opinion section last year to “personal liberties and free markets,” a change that led the editor of that section to resign.
The Post’s financial pressure and shrinking subscriber base contrast with the performance of The New York Times, which said on Wednesday that it added about 450,000 digital-only subscribers in the last quarter of 2025.
Featured image credits: Flickr
For more stories like it, click the +Follow button at the top of this page to follow us.