Jeff Bezos-owned Washington Post newspaper has carried out one of the most sweeping purges in its recent history by laying off more than 300 journalists and staff – accounting for over a third of the editorial workforce – as part of a major reorganisation of the publication.
A half-century after the Post’s coverage of Watergate, led by intrepid reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, entered the history books, the daily eliminated its sports section, several foreign bureaus and its books coverage in one of the most brutal blows to journalism.
The Post’s executive editor, Matt Murray, called the move painful, but necessary to weather changes in technology and user habits, telling staff in a note that: “We can’t be everything to everyone”.
Murray said the Post would concentrate on areas that demonstrate authority, distinctiveness and impact, and resonate with readers, including politics, national affairs and security.
He outlined the changes in a companywide online meeting, and staff members then began getting emails with one of two subject lines – telling them their role was or was not eliminated.
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Among those laid off is Congress MP Shashi Tharoor’s son, Ishaan Tharoor, who was associated with the Post for nearly 12 years.
In a post on X, Ishaan Tharoor shared what appeared to be a picture of the newsroom featuring a poster that read, “Democracy Dies in Darkness.” Credited for starting an extensively read Worldview column in 2017, Ishaan said he was “heartbroken” by the lay-off.
“I have been laid off today from The Washington Post, along with most of the International staff, and so many other wonderful colleagues. I’m heartbroken for our newsroom and especially for the peerless journalists who served the Post internationally – editors and correspondents who have been my friends and collaborators for almost 12 years. It’s been an honour to work with them,” he wrote.
Martin Baron, the Post’s first editor under its current owner, Bezos, condemned his former boss and called what has happened at the newspaper “a case study in near-instant, self-inflicted brand destruction”.
Calling it one of the “darkest days in the history of one of the world’s greatest news organisations,” Baron warned that the public would now be denied “ground-level fact-based reporting in our communities and around the world”.
Among the 300 people laid off include the entire Middle East reporting team, including Jerusalem bureau chief Gerry Shih and Cairo bureau Chief Claire Parker.
Others include Ukraine correspondent Lizzie Johnson and bureau chief Siobhán O’Grady, Culture & Arts, classical music critic Michael Andor Brodeur, theatre critic Naveen Kumar, and features reporter Jada Yuan.
Reporters and staff laid off also include Eva Dou (China/tech), Jesus Rodriguez, Dino Grandoni, Nilo Tabrizy (Visual Forensics), Caroline O’Donovan (Amazon/tech), and D.C. government reporter Michael Brice-Saddler.
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