The Washington Post has announced layoffs affecting one-third of its workforce, including most of the sports and foreign news desks. The Washington Post Guild’s response was particularly notable in calling for a new owner who would simply subsidize the newspaper despite its failing revenue and readership.
As someone who once wrote regularly for the Post, I have long lamented how the newspaper became less credible and relevant as it embraced advocacy journalism. It ran raging pieces from columnists such as Phillip Bump, Taylor Lorenz, and Jennifer Rubin, who viciously attacked those with opposing views, promoted conspiracy theories or called for the end of objectivity and neutrality in journalism. Even after other publications admitted that prior stories were hoaxes, the Post stood by clearly false reporting.
Years ago, I wrote that I was baffled by how the staff believed that writing off more than half of the country through biased reporting was a workable business or journalism model.
Readers left in droves. Despite anonymous reporters attacking Jeff Bezos since he purchased the newspaper, they expected him to be a type of sugar daddy who would subsidize their brand of journalism. They were increasingly writing for each other, but they still expected Bezos to lose millions for the privilege of owning the paper.
There is a strange thing about billionaires: they tend to want to make, not lose, money.
That point was driven home brilliantly when new editors were brought in to read the riot act to the staff. Washington Post publisher and CEO Will Lewis, a former British media executive, reportedly got into a “heated exchange” with a staffer. Lewis explained that, while reporters were protesting measures to expand readership, the very survival of the paper was now at stake:
“We are going to turn this thing around, but let’s not sugarcoat it. It needs turning around. We are losing large amounts of money. Your audience has halved in recent years. People are not reading your stuff. Right. I can’t sugarcoat it anymore.”
The response from staff was furious, calling for the removal of Lewis and other new editors.
If that wasn’t clear enough, management told staff months later that the sniping and obstruction had to stop. The newspaper must be able to sustain itself; if they could not get on board, they would have to leave.
Any business facing millions in losses will do two things simultaneously: work to expand sales and to reduce costs.
However, to do that, the Post must return to a journalism that most people want and value, rather than an echo chamber for MS NOW viewers.
In my book, “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage, I discuss the decline of the Post and other media due in part to the embrace of advocacy journalism.
We previously discussed the release of the results of interviews with more than 75 media leaders conducted by former Washington Post executive editor Leonard Downie Jr. and former CBS News President Andrew Heyward. They concluded that objectivity is now considered reactionary and even harmful. Emilio Garcia-Ruiz, editor-in-chief at the San Francisco Chronicle, said it plainly: “Objectivity has got to go.”
Saying that “Objectivity has got to go” is, of course, liberating. You can dispense with the necessities of neutrality and balance. You can cater to your “base” like columnists and opinion writers. Sharing the opposing view was dismissed as “bothsidesism.”
Once again, the management is trying to save the Post from itself. It is trying to return the newspaper to profitability, but these editors have faced continual resistance from reporters who would prefer to lose their jobs than their bias. The same drama is playing out at CBS and CNN recently.
In some ways, the only thing that might change the culture at the paper could be a staff turnover. Elon Musk showed that at Twitter, now X. Years of hiring advocates do not simply evaporate with a change in management.
The most telling response came from the Washington Post Guild, which declared:
“If Jeff Bezos is no longer willing to invest in the mission that has defined this paper for generations and serve the millions who depend on Post journalism, The Post deserves a steward that will.”
The question is what is “the mission.” The Post staff has driven one of the greatest newspapers in history into near insolvency by yielding to its own bias and impulses. It abandoned most readers while doing little to adapt to the new realities of the media landscape.
The only response from the Guild is that they should have a billionaire who is willing to lose money and subsidize them. It is the most self-indulgent and frankly entitled attitude that they could take at this moment.
The Post is struggling to survive, and the crew is still resisting efforts to alter the ship’s course. It is far from clear that even Jeff Bezos can save the Post, but I hope so. We need the Post and, while painful, it will need to be solvent to survive.
In 2026, only one major political party supports the entire U.S. Constitution (including the 2nd Amendment) – that’s the Democrats.
America only has one political party that supports the American constitutional rule of law. After Minneapolis Trump Republicans no longer support the 2nd Amendment. Trump’s oath-sworn officials say if you legally exercise your 1st and 2nd Amendment rights they will likely arrest or shoot you.
The Washington Post actually is fair & balanced with real conservatives like George Will. The WP does not support Trump’s foreign model of government.
Are you saying the WP should report on both the American model and Trump’s constitutionally-subversive model equally? In the 1950’s constitutional-subversives trying to subvert the American model of government were targeted by DOJ as “Enemies of the State” by the federal Attorney General.
In the 1950’s Republicans were opposed to constitutional-subversives like Trump’s foreign model. This is the real story here, America in 2026 only has one American party – the Democrats!
Some fair points by Turley but left out some material evidence from the story.
The Washington Post was reporting the inconvenient truths about Bush Republicans torture program.
The George W. Bush administration nearly totally disabled the internal whistleblowing channels for federal employees of security and intelligence agencies – the legal path for federal officials to report waste, fraud and abuse of your taxpayer dollars.
Since the Bush Administration destroyed internal government watchdog systems, newspapers like the Washington Post had to do the job Bush officials refused to do.
College Journalism (its leftist instructors, courses, and students) no longer know the difference between editorial content and objective news reporting.
It’s a pretty good bet, too, that the professional code of ethics for Journalists is no longer taught, and if it is, they have reinterpreted and editorialized “ehtics” to debase the code in favor of intrusive personal verdicts and exclusive political viewpoints.
Journalism is dead, and the Don Lemon soapbox is the new vector of cultural disease.
Wait, wait, wait.
Isn’t Don Lemon one of the new “independent news” sources that you now revere and idolize ??????
I thought you MAGA morons disdain the MSM in favor of such INDEPENDENT news sources.
I guess you only like independent news sources that feed you the pablum and propaganda that you want to hear.
So much for your definition of “independent news sources”
How many of those who were laidoff, could or are going to be replaced by AI? We have already seen AI disrupt other parts of industry. Perhaps this could be like when CAD was brought into the drafting industry.
The industry did not die, it changed and CAD was the best thing that happened. Yes some lost work, but more jobs were created than lost.
Yes AI will costs jobs, but other jobs will created because of AI and it will be a net positive.
The problem here is the refusal to acknowledge changing time and the shear smugness of thinking they are right while they run into reality.
The Quiet Man,
Oh, I know the industry did not die. Just thinking back to a picture I saw of an architecture firm, I think it was from the 1950s, of a huge room of people all working on the same project and now the same job can be done with a dozen people. Rather now you have the same if not more people working but on many different projects.
Read an article about a movie company who was trying to get their AI generated actress, Tilly Norwood, signed on with an agency. The same company believes they can cut production costs by up to 90% using AI.
The modeling industry, i.e. people modeling clothing, make up, products, is another industry that is expecting a disruption. I have already seen AI generated “models,” costs cheaper as it is just point and click, vs paying for lighting, makeup, photography, the model themselves.
Auto CAD 10. (-:
Here’s an interesting thought.
Trump is suing the IRS for $10 billion because of the leak of his tax records.
However that leak was not specific to his records. It was part of a huge breach of the records of 405,000 other taxpayers.
If Trump is successful, then all the other 405,000 taxpayers must also have an equally valid claim.
That would amount to $4,050,000,000,000,000, or $4,050 trillion dollars, or $4.05 quadrillion.
And this is how Trump is going to reduce the deficit !!!!!!
Its seems doubtful that the WaPo will survive, because, to paraphrase Lady Thatcher,
“The problem with [a socialist newspaper] is that eventually [it] run[s] out of other people’s money.”
RIP Washington Pest
-g
$$$… objectively intolerant
I had a laugh this morning after reading the New Mission Statement of the Washington Post, I am just including the first two sentences:
“In an era, demanding trust and clarity, the Washington Post delivers. Our core mission is to provide riveting storytelling for all of America, leveraging an unmatched newsroom legacy combined with an innovative approach to journalism and technology, fueled by Ai. We don’t just observe change; we drive it.”
Public Slogan: ‘Democracy Dies in Darkness’
When Eugene Meyer purchased the Post in 1933 his principles where:
*The first mission of a newspaper is to tell the truth as nearly as the truth may be ascertained.
*The Newspaper shall tell ALL the truth so far as it can learn it, concerning the important affairs of America and the world.
*As a disseminator of the news, the paper shall observe the decencies that are obligatory upon a private gentleman.
*What it prints shall be fit reading for the young as well as for the old.
*The newspaper’s duty is to its readers and to the public at large, and not to the private interests of its owners.
*In the pursuit of truth, the newspaper shall be prepared to make sacrifices of its material fortunes, if such course be necessary or the public good.
*The newspaper shall not be the ally of any special interest but shall be fair and free and wholesome in its outlook on public affairs and public men.
What a dichotomy of past and present missions, the elder tell the truth; the younger storytelling, Aesop had better and more believable tales.
Whereeeeeeees Clark?
The opportunity to embrace the discipline demanded by such principles is a precious gift for anyone who works for a living. Service and self-respect, plus a paycheck.
It will be no loss if the Washington COMpost shuts down. Except .. Bezos’ loss on his investment.
He will not have lost his investment it will just become a tax loss against other income.
Speaking of losses, the Post supposedly lost $100 million last year.
Bezos could continue to lose $100 million a year for the next 100 years, and that would be less than 4% of his current fortune.
Let that sink in.
This is NOT about money.
This is about Trump and his sycophantic oligarchs shutting down a free press and cutting off all contact with, and information from the outside world.
No news is great news for authoritarians and their oligarchs.
The Post’s motto of “Democracy Dies in Darkness” is now a mission statement.
“People are not reading your stuff. Right. I can’t sugarcoat it anymore.” The Post poisoned itself by its own relentlessly biased brand of “journalism.” Reporters who still know how to report might be the antidote. But young reporters fresh out of j school — the affordable hires — have instead been taught how to write selling copy.
Maybe the Post can hire back their fired sportswriters, and have them do straight reporting of straight news. Can you imagine fair calling of balls and strikes at that rag? It would be something to see.
One of the hallmarks of capitalism is the process of creative destruction. The destruction part naturally results in displacement and disappointment. The creative part results in new and amazing innovations. Jeff Bezos of all people would be aware of this phenomena as his primary company, Amazon, has put out of business numerous companies and in return we have a mechanism that promises near instant gratification for nearly everything that one might desire. Few companies have survived beyond the 100 year mark – the Washington Post is one of the few but that longevity does not inoculate it from the vicissitudes of free market economic life.
Bezos sings Melanie,
♫ Layoff, Layoff, Lay them all off.
Let the pink slips smile up,
at the ones who stand and scoff. ♫