The Washington Post began widespread layoffs yesterday that will drastically shrink the size of the storied newspaper, affecting all departments, according to a recording of the call shared with Reuters.
Executive Editor Matt Murray informed the staff of the cuts, which will cut across the international, editing, metro, and sports desks, and come just days after the more than 145-year-old newspaper scaled back its coverage of the 2026 Winter Olympics amid mounting financial losses.
“For too long, we’ve operated with a structure that’s too rooted in the days when we were a quasi-monopoly local newspaper,” Murray said.
One Post reporter, speaking on condition of anonymity, called it a ‘bloodbath’.
“All departments are impacted. Politics and government will remain our largest desk and will remain central to our engagement and subscriber growth,” Murray said in the call.
“We will be closing the sports department in its current form.”
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