Washington Post Begins Sweeping Layoffs

[demmiblue]

Source: NYT

The Washington Post told employees on Wednesday that it was beginning a widespread round of layoffs.

The cuts, announced in a video call with employees, are a sign that Jeff Bezos, who became one of the world’s richest people by selling things on the internet, has not yet figured out how to build and maintain a profitable publication on the internet. The paper expanded during the first several years of his ownership, but the company has sputtered more recently.

“The actions we are taking include a broad strategic reset with a significant staff reduction,” Matt Murray, The Post’s executive editor, said on the call.

Mr. Bezos hired Will Lewis as publisher in late 2023 to find a path to profitability for The Post, which had been suffering from declining audiences and sagging subscriptions. Mr. Lewis has experimented with several changes to transform the organization, notably embracing artificial intelligence to power comments, podcasts and news aggregation.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/04/business/media/washington-post-layoffs.html

[eppur_se_muova]

1. Fire all the right-wingers, rebuild the Post's reputation, and you'll get your old circulation numbers back. nt

[Lovie777]

2. Is it because people stop reading the paper and many unsubscribed?.......

[no_hypocrisy]

3. Starting with valid editors and journalists . . . . .

[Lonestarblue]

4. Bezos and Lewis misjudged their readers.

They have lost thousands of subscribers with their turn toward becoming another Fox. I am one of them and will never go back unless Bezos sells the Post to someone who wants to restore it to an important media outlet and who will fire Lewis and all the right-wing writers he has brought onboard.

[NewHendoLib]

5. Will the WAPO have a similar article about the same at the NYT?

Two great papers get MAGA-fied. Surprised readership drops? MAGA is too lazy to read anything bigger than a meme.

[oberle]

6. Unfortunately, I need newspapers to put under the litter box

so I have to keep my subscription.

[Bok_Tukalo]

7. It's like that bit from "Network"

Ownership wanted its opinion to continue to be pushed no matter how unpopular it was and blamed management for losing money.

Management’s solution was to shoot the TV personality evangelizing ownership’s vision in the head live on air.

That seems a bit extreme.

[Trueblue Texan]

8. Bezos's support of TSF is why I ended my WAPO subscription.

If he truly cared about the paper, which he doesn't, he'd sell it to someone who is committed to preserving democracy.

[littlemissmartypants]

9. So, if you haven't canceled your subscription NOW would be a great time to do it. nt

[AverageOldGuy]

10. As of 10:45 AM, Wednesday . . .

. . . no mention of this on the Post website. I have a digital subscription that I should cancel but I'll probably keep it, mainly for local/regional news and the occasional feature article.