The Washington Post announced sweeping layoffs at one of America’s most storied newspapers on Wednesday in a seismic move that drew a backlash from staff and a legendary former editor.
In a Zoom call with staff, Matt Murray, the Post’s executive editor, said the Jeff Bezos-owned publication would undergo “a broad strategic reset” leading to “a significant staff reduction.”
In practice, this means closing the sports section “in its current form,” eliminating the Books section, shrinking the international team, restructuring the Metro section, and suspending its Post Reports podcast ― effectively gutting a legendary newsroom famed for breaking Watergate as it looks to respond to changes in how news is consumed.
The cuts reportedly represent a one-third of the staff being laid off, though it’s unclear how many total employees the newspaper has. Early reports suggested 300 jobs would go.
Bezos, the billionaire owner of Amazon, has slashed the newsroom’s size and dramatically shifted its focus since buying the newspaper in 2013. The Washington Post Guild said the workforce has already shrunk by about 400 people in the past three years.
