Several days ago, the Washington Post stunned the media world by announcing major cuts to the publication.
A full third of the publication was given a pink slip, with Executive Editor Matt Murray calling the move "a strategic reset.”
This did not sit well with Democrats, who see this as a hit to a major ally, and now the publication’s publisher has decided to call it a day.
It is no secret that the Washington Post was losing money, as are many mainstream media outlets these days, and Bezos is looking to trim the fat.
The paper is significantly cutting its international desk, the health section was cut, and the entire Middle East desk was let go.
The Metro section used to have about 40 people working, and now there are only about a dozen people left in the department.
Former Executive Editor Marty Baron blistered the decision, stating, "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."
Publications like the Washington Post have been allies to the Democrat Party for years, so it was no surprise they were upset the publication is significantly cutting back.
Regardless of how much money Bezos has in the bank, he still has the right to expect his investments to pay off, but Dems don’t see it that way. They want him to flush money to keep the publication alive.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) stated, “Jeff Bezos just fired hundreds of reporters at the Washington Post — including the Amazon reporter holding his OWN company accountable.”
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) added, “A devastating day for the paper of record in our nation’s capital. Bezos just spent $40M sucking up to Trump with Amazon’s ‘Melania,’ but is now cutting a third of [Post] staff – including much of the international & local teams – for ‘budget’ reasons? The corporate takeover of media is a threat to our democracy & the delivery of the truth to the American people.” Uhm, that “Melania” movie broke records in its debut, so it would appear that Bezos made a pretty good investment there.
News broke on Saturday that publisher Will Lewis decided to step down after the layoffs.
Lewis has been the publisher for the last two years, framing this as the “right time” for him to step down and turn it over to someone else. Jeff D’Onofrio, the former Tumblr CEO, will take over the role after having joined the publication in June as its chief financial officer.
Jeff Bezos did make a statement on the matter: “The Post has an essential journalistic mission and an extraordinary opportunity. Each and every day our readers give us a roadmap to success. The data tells us what is valuable and where to focus.”
The reality is that print journalism is dying, and it will be far more rapid with the expansion of AI writing. There are plenty of departments in a newspaper where an individual’s voice is not needed, and I believe AI will do more reporting than humans very soon. Luckily for me, I am in one of the few segments that will always allow for an opinionated voice. It just forces us all to be at the top of our game now rather than just regurgitating for the masses.
