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Jeff Bezos-owned Washington Post has announced they are cutting off one-third of their international staff, causing chaos in the journalism world.
On Wednesday, February 4, the Post confirmed that it is eliminating its sports section and several foreign bureaus, with executive editor Matt Murray calling it a painful yet necessary step.
"We can't be everything to everyone," Murray noted in a memo to staff members.
He shared the changes in a companywide online meeting, following which staff members began receiving emails, informing them whether their role was eliminated or not.
Speculations of layoffs had been circulating for weeks, as it was leaked that sports reporters who had expected to travel to Italy for the Winter Olympics would not be going.
However, the scale of the cuts was shocking, with the layoff affecting every department in the newsroom.
Financially, the newspaper has been struggling with decreasing subscribers due to its owner, Bezos, decision to pull back from Kamala Harris endorsement during the 2024 presidential election.
While being a private company, the Post does not reveal how many subscribers it has, but it is believed to be roughly 2 million, reported the Associated Press.
Following the shocking blow, several staff members turned to X to share that they have been laid off, with The Post's Cairo bureau chief, Claire Parker, sharing that she has been let go from the Washington Post, "along with the entire roster of Middle East correspondents and our editors."
"Hard to understand the logic. But I am grateful for my incredible colleagues, whose grit and dedication to the reporting and each other I will miss dearly," Parker penned.
Moreover, Berlin bureau chief Aaron Wiener and Ukraine bureau chief Siobhán O'Grady shared that they have also been laid off along with the elimination of their bureaus.
Unveiling the news on X, Aaron wrote, "So many great journalists have lost their jobs today. It's a dark day."
