Article in The Guardian by Jeremy Barr, 2/5/26

Headline:  “Mass layoffs fuel fears of ‘death spiral’ at Washington Post”

Subhead: “On Wednesday, storied newspaper axed nearly one-third of company after earlier unpopular moves by owner Jeff Bezos”

“Under Marty Baron, the Washington Post won 11 Pulitzer prizes and expanded its newsroom to house more than 1,000 journalists. The storied newspaper’s future is now in question, according to its former executive editor.

“The aspirations of this news organization are diminished,” Baron told the Guardian in an interview. ‘I think that’ll translate into fewer subscribers. And I hope it’s not a death spiral, but I worry that it might be.’. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/feb/05/mass-layoffs-washington-post

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Article in Poynter by Tom Jones, 2/5/26

Headline:  “Opinion | Inside one of the ‘darkest days in the history’ of The Washington Post“

“That’s how Ashley Parker, a staff writer for The Atlantic and former star reporter at The Washington Post, described what happened at the Post on Wednesday.

“A third of the Post’s staff — about 300 journalists — was laid off. Nearly all departments were affected. The sports and books desks were pretty much eliminated. The foreign desk was gutted. . .”

“And so Parker wrote, “Jeff Bezos, the billionaire owner of The Washington Post, and Will Lewis, the publisher he appointed at the end of 2023, are embarking on the latest step of their plan to kill everything that makes the paper special. . .”

Read the full article at:

https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2026/why-did-the-washington-post-layoffs-happen/