Daijiworld Media Network - Washington
Washington, Feb 5: In what has been described as one of the darkest days in its history, The Washington Post on Wednesday confirmed sweeping layoffs across the organisation, formally triggering a long-anticipated cost-cutting exercise that has shaken one of America’s most influential newsrooms.
According to reports, nearly one-third of the newspaper’s workforce has been laid off, marking the most dramatic contraction of its editorial operations since it was acquired by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos in 2013.
Among those affected are Ishaan Tharoor, son of Congress MP and author Shashi Tharoor, and Pranshu Verma, the Post’s India bureau chief.
“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,” Tharoor wrote in a post.
Verma, who served as New Delhi bureau chief for four years, said on X, “Gutted for so many of my talented friends who are also gone. It was a privilege to work here. Serving as the paper’s India bureau chief was an honour.”
The mood inside the newsroom had been tense for weeks amid internal warnings and union alerts. On Wednesday morning, staff were instructed to “stay home” as layoff notifications were issued. An employee quoted by The Guardian described the situation bluntly: “It’s an absolute bloodbath.”
In an internal memo, executive editor Matt Murray confirmed “substantial newsroom reductions impacting nearly all news departments.”
The sports desk, Books section and the flagship daily podcast Post Reports are among the units hit hardest. The international desk is being significantly scaled back, though Murray said around 12 international bureaus will continue, with a renewed focus on national security coverage.
The Metro desk — central to the paper’s identity as “For and About Washington” — is being sharply downsized, with staff strength expected to fall from over 40 journalists to roughly a dozen.
Addressing staff during a newsroom-wide Zoom call, Murray described the layoffs as a “strategic reset” driven by financial pressures and shifting audience behaviour. He stressed that the cuts were not a reflection on the quality of journalism produced.
“We all recognise the actions we are taking today will be painful,” Murray said, adding that the reset would feel like a “shock to the system.”
In a follow-up email, he said the restructuring was aimed at placing the Post “on a stronger footing” amid rapid technological change and evolving reader habits.
“This restructure will help to secure our future in service of our journalistic mission,” Murray wrote, noting that the wider media industry was undergoing a fundamental transformation.
Jeff Bezos has not publicly commented on the layoffs, though reports say he has been pushing for a return to profitability. His approach has drawn criticism from within the newsroom. In a recent column, senior fact-checker Glenn Kessler wrote, “Bezos is not trying to save The Washington Post. He’s trying to survive Donald Trump.”
Former executive editor Martin Baron called the day “among the darkest in the history of one of the world’s greatest news organisations.”
The overhaul comes amid falling subscriptions and declining advertising revenue. The Post peaked at over three million subscribers during the Trump presidency, but that number has since dropped sharply and is now “far below” its high point.
Last year, publisher and CEO Will Lewis revealed that the paper had lost USD 177 million over two years, admitting that “not enough people” wanted to read its journalism. Despite experiments with artificial intelligence and personalised news products, losses reportedly continue to run into tens of millions of dollars annually.
The layoffs reflect a broader crisis across the US media industry. In recent years, BuzzFeed News shut down, Vice Media filed for bankruptcy, and Business Insider cut more than 20 per cent of its workforce. The Los Angeles Times has also announced repeated newsroom reductions.
Observers say the scale of the cuts suggests the Post is narrowing its focus towards US politics, national security and federal power, moving away from the broad national and international coverage that once defined its global influence.
Whether the “reset” restores financial stability or further erodes the paper’s standing remains to be seen. For a publication that once shaped national debate, the challenge now is not just relevance, but survival.