'It's an absolute bloodbath': Washington Post lays off hundreds of workers

[lostincalifornia]

The Washington Post laid off hundreds of employees on Wednesday, which its former executive editor said “ranks among the darkest days” in the newspaper’s history. Approximately one-third of employees were affected.

Staffers at the Post have been on edge for weeks about the rumored cuts, which the publication would not confirm or deny. “It’s an absolute bloodbath,” said one employee, not authorized to speak publicly.

During a morning meeting announcing the changes, editor in chief Matt Murray told employees that the Post was undergoing a “strategic reset” to better position the publication for the future, according to several employees who were on the call.

Murray acknowledged that the Post has struggled to reach “customers” and talked about the need to compete in a crowded media marketplace. “Today, the Washington Post is taking a number of actions across the company to secure our future,” he said, according to an audio recording of the meeting.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/washington-post-undergoing-significant-layoffs-140939197.html

"strategic reset" my ass. To the editor in chief Matt Murray, the problem is your boss bezo, who suppressed any WP editorials/articles critical of the sociopath in the WH. Censorship of a newspaper whose prime directive is to report news, is never a good thing. The writing was on the wall when bezo took charge of what could be contained in the editorals, and blocking of presidential endorsements because they were NOT of trump. That is when its subscribers started dropping their subscriptions. The writing was on the wall.

If bezo was laid off, and the paper went back to honest reporting, maybe they might survive.

[Soul_of_Wit]

1. I used to consider The New York Times and The Washington Post...

...to be newspapers of record. I no longer do. The Wall Street Journal and Los Angeles Times still hold that distinction. Just avoid the op-ed page of the WSJ.

[Easterncedar]

3. LA Times also owned by a rich conservative egomaniac

Tick tick tick

[Tasmanian Devil]

2. The Washington Post Died on 10/25/2024

The post has been dead since 10/25/2024. It's just taking a while for the corpse to rot away.

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/10/25/jeff-bezos-killed-washington-post-endorsement-of-kamala-harris-.html

The Washington Post said Friday that it will not endorse a candidate in the presidential election this year — or ever again — breaking decades of tradition and sparking immediate criticism of the decision.

But the newspaper also published an article by two staff reporters revealing that editorial page staffers had drafted an endorsement of Democratic nominee Kamala Harris over GOP nominee Donald Trump in the election.

“The decision not to publish was made by The Post’s owner — Amazon founder Jeff Bezos,” the article said, citing two sources briefed on the events.

[MichMan]

4. People just don't want to pay for news content

Even when they have a paywall, people just try to get around it somehow

[Torchlight]

5. Only two newspapers left I'm subscribed to (now both are local)

(and one of them I get, read and enjoy in physical form, leaving it in the breakroom afterwards for the anonymous jolly jumble and crosswords fan in my building)

[RockRaven]

6. They blame it on the marketplace, totally ignore/deny their product has changed

for the worse in a manner (multiple manners, actually) which drives away customers.

[flvegan]

7. Democracy ain't the only thing that dies in darkness, WaPo. n/t

[WiVoter]

8. Jeff Bozo

Just sayin.

[Johnny2X2X]

9. 1/3 of their total workforce was axed

That's massive.

[themaguffin]

10. That fucker killed the Post.

[underpants]

11. The entire sports department too

Washington Post eliminates sports department amid mass layoff

https://www.espn.com/espn/story/_/id/47826430/washington-post-eliminates-sports-department-amid-mass-layoff

[biocube]

12. Billionaires always overestimate themselves

Is turns out it's a lot harder to crush to competition on the way to the top in media than in retail.

[ok_cpu]

13. The NYT took occassion to get in a dig

The cuts 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.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/04/business/media/washington-post-layoffs.html?unlocked_article_code=1.JlA.iwXK.GdLbM72Af7IA&smid=nytcore-android-share

[Blue Full Moon]

14. Bezos kills democracy in broad daylight

[QueerDuck]

16. I see what you did there. 👍️

👍️

[Tetrachloride]

15. go make a new newspaper

[Babaganosh]

17. Correct!!

“The writing was on the wall when bezo took charge of what could be contained in the editorals, and blocking of presidential endorsements because they were NOT of trump. That is when its subscribers started dropping their subscriptions. The writing was on the wall.”

[KS Toronado]

25. Welcome to DU !

[LetMyPeopleVote]

27. Welcome to DU

[Javaman]

18. fuck bozo.

I've never seen someone touch his toes so off for the orange pedo.

[Susan Calvin]

19. Bezos should never have been allowed to buy it in the first place. nt

[Initech]

20. Maybe they all start their own news agency and tell Bozos where he can shove his billions!

[mysteryowl]

21. Time for a new national media.

[lame54]

22. To be that ridiculously rich and..

Still have to answer to others
He's not doing it right

[GiqueCee]

23. "BOZO" Bezos...

... has shot himself in the foot... again. 'Bout run outa feet, ain't ya, Bozo?

Gotta wonder about Bozo's backstory. He's censored the WAPO editorial page plenty; so maybe he's whitewashed his person history, too. Now I'm curious.
Updates as events warrant.

[GoodRaisin]

24. "Reset" for fascism.

[bucolic_frolic]

26. Don't need media in a dictatorship

May as well save the pocket change.

[PCB66]

28. Unfortunately

In the era of the Internet and hundreds of TV stations devoted to news and sports newspapers are simply not profitable any more.

Advertisers can reach more people through other media. WAPO has been losing money for quite awhile. Bezos was an idiot to pay $250m for it. I doubt he will ever recover his investment, even with streamlining labor cost. That begs the question of why did he really do it.

It is a shame. I use to enjoy reading the newspaper as a way to unwind after work.