Oliver Darcy reported late last night that The Washington Post will be laying off “many dozens of employees” this week. This marks yet another demoralizing setback for a publication that was once considered one of the most respected newspapers in the country. The decision is particularly troubling given the paper’s recent exodus of high-profile journalists, including Josh Dawsey (who joined The Wall Street Journal), Matea Gold (The New York Times), Ashley Parker and Michael Scherer (both now with The Atlantic), Charles Lane (The Free Press), and Tyler Pager (The Times).
The layoffs come as the Post grapples with the loss of 250,000 subscribers following owner Jeff Bezos’s controversial decision not to endorse Kamala Harris ahead of the 2024 election. That move was widely criticized as pandering to Donald Trump, further alienating the paper’s readership. Bezos’s actions since have only deepened the crisis. He donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration, visited Mar-a-Lago, and has been spotted cozying up to Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump. Bezos also recently announced that a Brett Ratner-directed documentary about Melania Trump would premiere on Prime Video later this year.
I had personally canceled my longtime subscription after the endorsement kerfuffle, but immediately resubscribed because I still wanted to support the journalists inside the newspaper. However, many of those have left, and after Ann Telnaes — a Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist — resigned last week after the paper rejected a cartoon depicting Bezos kissing up to Trump, I canceled again. There’s little to lure me back (aside from the brilliant John Williams, who oversees the books section (and was an early writer on this site)).
Adding to the turmoil, Bezos hired Will Lewis, infamous for his role in News International’s phone hacking scandal in Britain, as a key executive. Lewis effectively forced out former executive editor Sally Buzbee in November 2023, a move that many see as the beginning of the Post’s unraveling. Once renowned for its fearless journalism — dating back to the Watergate reporting of Woodward and Bernstein — the paper gained a significant subscriber base during the first Trump Administration by appealing to readers seeking a robust alternative to The New York Times. Political reporters like Dawsey and Parker became well-known names during this “resistance” era, cementing the Post’s reputation as a bastion of accountability journalism.
Today, however, the slogan “Democracy Dies in Darkness” feels increasingly hollow. Compared to Bezos’s vast portfolio, the Post is a minor asset — a mere rounding error in his financial empire. Yet its role in holding the authoritarian President-elect accountable directly conflicts with Bezos’s billion-dollar government contracts. Despite the ethical conflicts, there is little indication Bezos will sell. Kara Swisher is reportedly working to assemble a deal to purchase the paper, but Bezos’s willingness to part with it remains uncertain. For now, the future of the Post hangs precariously in the balance, a disappointing shadow of its former self.