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 have been on edge for weeks about the rumoured cuts, which the publication would not confirm or deny. “It’s an absolute bloodbath,” said one employee, not authorised to speak publicly.
During the meeting, editor in chief Matt Murray told employees that was undergoing a “strategic reset” to better position the publication for the future, according to several employees who were on the call.
Mr Murray acknowledged that has struggled to reach “customers” and talked about the need to compete in a crowded media marketplace.
“Today, is taking a number of actions across the company to secure our future,” he said, according to an audio recording of the meeting.
Mr Murray told employees that The Washington Post was ending the current iteration of its popular sports desk, though some employees will remain on a new team. The Washington Post is also restructuring its local coverage, reducing its international reporting operation, cutting its books desk, and suspending its flagship daily news podcast
Mr Murray said that, while The Washington Post’s international coverage team will be scaled back, approximately 12 bureaus will remain “with a focus on national security issues”.
“We all recognise the actions we are taking today will be painful – most of all, of course, for those of you who are directly affected, but for everybody,” Mr Murray told staffers on the call.
“I know that the reset is going to feel like a shock to the system and raise some questions for everybody.”
Martin Baron, The Washington Post’s executive editor until 2021, said: “This ranks among the darkest days in the history of one of the world’s greatest news organisations.”
Seeking to lay out the business case of the layoffs, Mr Murray said the move was “about positioning ourselves to become more essential to people’s lives in what is becoming a more crowded and competitive and complicated media landscape”.
“I know that these last couple of weeks have been an unusually tense and distracting time for all of us, and I know it will be a difficult day,” he added.
“I appreciate the excellence of your work during this time.”
Mr Murray said The Washington Post’s largest team will be focused on covering politics and government, and the newspaper will also prioritise coverage of national news and features topics such as science, health, medicine, technology, climate, and business.
Employees who have been laid off will continue to be on staff through April 10, though they will not be required to work. They will receive six months of continued health insurance coverage.
The affected employees include Caroline O’Donovan, who primarily covers Amazon, the company founded by owner Jeff Bezos. Other staffers, including sports journalist Neil Greenberg, have also announced that they were affected.
One editor who was laid off Wednesday laid much of the blame at the feet of the newspaper’s publisher, Will Lewis, who did not speak on the company’s morning conference call.
“Will Lewis’s legacy (already pretty bleak to begin with) will be having enabled Bezos to tank an American institution,” the staffer said, requesting anonymity to speak candidly.
“And he wasn’t even brave enough to face his staffers more than once in his tenure at the Post. Embarrassing to say the least.”
After years of growth under owner Mr Bezos, has been shedding staff over the last few years. About 240 staffers left via buyouts offered at the end of 2023, and another chunk of staffers took buyouts last year, which were offered to any employee with more than 10 years of experience.
