“Among the darkest days”: Washington Post lays off a third of its staff in “bloodbath”
The Washington Post began widespread layoffs on Wednesday, with roughly one-third of the staff being let go.
Editor-in-chief Matt Murray told employees that the Post would be taking on a “strategic reset” in an effort to reach more future “customers.” One anonymous employee called the resulting firings “an absolute bloodbath.”
The cuts most seriously affect the sports desk, which will effectively be scrapped, according to Murray, along with its international reporting desk. The paper’s books section has been mothballed and its daily news podcast, “Post Reports,” will be suspended.
Former Post executive editor Marty Baron blasted the move, saying it “ranks among the darkest days in the history of one of the world’s greatest news organizations.”
A spokesperson for the paper told NBC that the Post’s “significant restructuring” was meant to secure the paper’s continued survival.
“The Washington Post is taking a number of difficult but decisive actions today for our future,” they said.
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Some reporters who were affected by the layoffs pushed back against that idea. Reporter Emmanuel Felton was among those laid off and decried the decision in a post on X.
“This wasn’t a financial decision, it was an ideological one,” Felton wrote.
The Washington Post Guild said the layoffs “are not inevitable” and called out the Post’s billionaire owner, Jeff Bezos.
— Washington Post Guild (@PostGuild) February 4, 2026
“A newsroom cannot be hollowed out with consequences for its credibility, its reach and its future,” the guild said in a statement. “If Jeff Bezos is no longer willing to invest the mission that has defined this paper for generations…then The Post deserves a steward who will.”
Bezos’ tenure at the paper has been marred by controversy. The Amazon founder who purchased the outlet in 2013 was faced with resignations after he squashed political endorsements in the lead-up to 2024 election. The paper’s daily circulation has fallen from 250,000 in 2020 to just 97,000 in 2025.
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