The Washington Post announced its long-rumored mass layoffs Wednesday morning tallying more than 300 journalists — and the official killing of the books, daily podcast, and sports sections and grinding down of local and international sections to almost nothing.
The New York Times pegged the layoffs as “about 30 percent of all employees” and quoted Post executive editor Matt Murray as having told employees on a Zoom that the dramatic altering of the newspaper is “positioning ourselves to become more essential to people’s lives in what is becoming more crowded, competitive and complicated media landscape.”
Murray further said this will leave The Post in position to compete and lead on business, health, politics, the White House, and other domestic affairs.
Thus, by closing the sports section and making widespread eliminations to international and local reporting, The Washington Post will look and feel no different than, say, Politico with an editorial page and op-eds.
As such, watch for the paper’s paid readership to continue plummeting. And, for anyone who’s been paying attention to media coverage of the Trump era, The Post’s record of virulent anti-Trump hate will do little to assuage new audiences.
Murray added in an employee email that the “substantial newsroom reductions impacting nearly all news departments” has provided Post leaders with a “clarity of purpose” to move away from “a dominant, local print product” following years of “financial challenges[.]”
Interestingly, he conceded that while “we produce much excellent work, we too often write from one perspective, for one slice of the audience.”
He later concluded with this:
Even admit challenges, The Washington Post retains great strengths. We have a dep pool of talented journalists and leaders, strong standards, institutional backing, a proud legacy, and millions of customers. Most important, our central purpose remains as it ever was: To produce riveting and distinct journalism of the highest caliber that breaks news, explains the world with authority and fairness, empowers people with knowledge, and helps them live better-informed lives.
The massive layoffs have been in the works for months with Status reporting back in October that “layoffs are once again on the horizon, this time threatening the newsroom” because, according to an alleged quote via the opinion editor, the paper “is in ‘severe financial distress.” Last week, Puck’s Dylan Byers previewed the specifics in his indispensible newsletter.
Just over a year ago, The Washington Post had let around 100 employees go, which tallied four percent of its workforce. The Post also slashed 240 jobs in 2023 through a series of voluntary buyouts.
The Post’s employee union said in a statement shortly after the cuts were announced that “in just the last three years, The Post’s workforce has shrunk by roughly 400 people.”
While it’s certainly a jarring move to end a sports section and gut its foreign section, the melodramatics underline why a huge part of the country has zero sympathy for the changes.
One example is a piece in The Atlantic — the unofficial magazine of liberal elites — by former Post reporter Ashley Parker in which the headline read The Murder of The Washington Post” and an opening two sentences reading “[w]e’re witnessing a murder” of “an indispensable national institution, and a pillar of the democratic system.” We’ll spare you the rest of the piece, but the takeaway is that kind of sentiment continued.
Similar histrionics cropped up at NPR with media reporter David Folkenflik (who wouldn’t be caught dead treating those of us at NewsBusters as good and decent people), who said “the storied newspaper narrows the scope of its ambitions” in “a remarkable reversal for a vital pillar of American journalism.”
Former Post editor Marty Baron also offered a laborious meltdown:
A staggering statement from former Washington Post editor Marty Baron: "This ranks among the darkest days in the history of one of the world's greatest news organizations." pic.twitter.com/xWQrN8B1P4
— Ben Mullin (@BenMullin) February 4, 2026
As for specifics, The Post laid off all beat reporters for the city’s big four professional sports teams (Capitals, Commanders, Nationals, Wizards), its reporters covering the MLB, NBA, NFL, and NHL on a national scale, high school sports.
The international section was hit hard as well, with former Post editor Robert McCartney sharing the outlet “has laid off every reporter and editor covering the Middle East” has lost their job, including those in Israel and Ukraine, which sure seem to two of the most contentious places on Earth.
Cairo bureau chief Claire Parker confirmed this sentiment in saying she was “laid off...along with the entire roster of Middle East correspondents and our editors,” leaving The Post without a reporter to cover over 400 million people, including hot beds such as Iraq, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
Exit question: Have these liberal elites who look to the Bluesky Brigade for affirmation ever shown compassion and empathy for the working class in, say, the Rust Belt who’ve spent decades grappling with the hollowing out of America’s industry base, sending an entire region into the throes of economic and mental pain?
