The Washington Post has carried out one of the largest layoffs in modern American newspaper history, cutting nearly one-third of its workforce and fueling deep uncertainty about the storied institution’s future.
The cuts, announced Wednesday, affected hundreds of employees across the company, which had about 2,500 workers in late 2023 before earlier buyouts. Entire departments were gutted, including the paper’s sports section, along with major reductions to local news, style, world coverage, and its audio and video operations. Commercial teams were also hit.
Former executive editor Marty Baron, who led the Post through a period of major expansion and 11 Pulitzer Prizes, warned that the newspaper’s ambitions are shrinking and that the reductions could trigger a damaging cycle of subscriber losses.
Baron, who once wrote positively about owner Jeff Bezos’s stewardship, said the billionaire is no longer acting as the same kind of owner. He suggested Bezos may be more cautious since Donald Trump returned to the White House in 2024, seeking to protect other business interests such as Amazon and Blue Origin amid an increasingly hostile political climate toward the press.
Trump has frequently attacked news organizations and encouraged regulators to target outlets he opposes, adding to the financial and political pressures facing major media institutions.
Bezos has remained silent in recent weeks as employees appealed for him to avoid cuts, and he has not responded publicly to requests for comment.
Much criticism has also centered on publisher Will Lewis, hired in late 2023 to reverse the Post’s fortunes. Lewis did not appear during a staff Zoom meeting announcing the layoffs, drawing concern from current and former employees.
Donald E. Graham, who sold the Post to Bezos in 2013, called it a painful day and expressed sadness for the reporters and editors losing their jobs.
Editor in chief Matt Murray told staff the Post’s largest remaining reporting group will focus on politics and government, which leadership sees as central to subscriber engagement. The paper will also continue covering national news, science, technology, climate and business, but with smaller teams.
The shift leaves the Post facing fierce competition from outlets such as Politico, Axios and Punchbowl News, which are already tightly focused on Washington coverage.
The layoffs follow other controversial moves, including Bezos’s decision in fall 2024 to halt a planned presidential endorsement, which reportedly cost the Post hundreds of thousands of subscribers. He also narrowed the focus of the opinion section toward “personal liberties and free markets.”
Some employees and veterans have urged Bezos to sell the newspaper, while the union representing much of the staff said the Post deserves an owner willing to invest in its mission.
Source: The Guardian