Starting about a half hour ago, the Washington Post began massive layoffs.
According to reports, they’re laying off 300 staffers. They’re also closing the books and sports sections, and making huge cuts in international reporting.
The layoffs are coming by email, with a Zoom staff meeting going on right now.
This comes as Post owner eff Bezos wasted $75 million on a Melania Trump promotional film which has made a total of $8 million since its release on Friday. The film will lose millons that could have gone to salaries.
The sports section closing is egregious enough. But the end of Books is very sad, especially since more people than ever are reading. Barnes & Noble is actually adding stores, and most books are sold by Amazon, which owns the Post.
Marty Baron, former award winning editor in chief, had this to say in a statement this morning:
“This ranks among the darkest days in the history of one of the world’s greatest news organizations. The Washington Post’s ambitions will be sharply diminished, its talented and brave staff will be further depleted, and the public will be denied the ground-level, fact-based reporting in our communities and around the world that is needed more than ever. Of course, there were acute business problems that had to be addressed. No one can deny that.
This is a period of head-spinning change in media consumption. The response to that is necessarily difficult and severely disruptive. Radical innovation is required.
The Post’s challenges, however, were made infinitely worse by ill-conceived decisions that came from the very top —from a gutless order to kill a presidential endorsement 11 days before the 2024 election to a remake of the editorial page that now stands out only for its moral infirmity. Loyal readers, livid as they saw owner Jeff Bezos betraying the values he was supposed to uphold, fled The Post. In truth, they were driven away, by the hundreds of thousands.
The owner, in a note to readers, wrote that he aimed to boost trust in The Post. The effect was something else entirely: Subscribers lost trust in his stewardship and, notwithstanding the newsroom’s stellar journalism, The Post overall. Similarly, many leading journalists at The Post lost confidence in Bezos, and jumped to other news organizations. They also, in effect, were driven away. Bezos’s sickening efforts to curry favor with President Trump have left an especially ugly stain of their own. This is a case study in near-instant, self-inflicted brand destruction.
Many superior journalists will remain at The Post, delivering important work. I expect they will continue to hold power to account, as they have done spectacularly well for decades. They deserve the support of all who believe in quality journalism.
I remain personally grateful for Jeff Bezos’s steadfast support and confidence during my eight-plus years as The Post’s executive editor. During that time, he came under brutal pressure from Trump. And yet he spoke forcefully and eloquently of a free press and The Post’s mission, demonstrating his commitment in concrete terms. He often declared that The Post’s success would be among the proudest achievements of his life. I wish I detected the same spirit today. There is no sign of it.
Like many others, I’d like to hear the owner and the publisher he appointed articulate a contemporary vision that offers the prospect of financial stability and growth, demonstrates imagination and creativity, honors the heritage of The Post, shows appreciation for its remarkable staff and signals a firm sense of purpose. It is years overdue.”
Keep refreshing…
