"Wow. I've been in reporting mode, and I have to say, I haven't really let myself feel anything yet, in part because I think I'm in a little bit of a state of shock about the scope of these cuts. There are about eight hundred people in the Post newsroom, and three hundred of those positions are being cut. That is on top of the hundreds that have been cut over the past few years."
"That is just an extraordinary loss across the newsroom, and it really just hobbles the paper going forward. But even as I'm talking to you I feel like I'm not feeling what I should be feeling, which is this extraordinary sense of grief. Grief for my former colleagues, grief for this institution that I really do love, and grief for-not to sound too grandiose about it-the impact on democracy."
"Marcus and I caught up on the phone this morning to discuss the gutting of the paper, and what she would say to its owner, Jeff Bezos, if given the opportunity. We also shared some personal memories: Marcus's first job at the Post, in 1984, was in the Metro bureau in Prince George's County, Maryland, which is where I grew up. The Post's Metro team, responsible for covering local news, was one of the hardest hit by today's layoffs."
Newsroom staff at the Washington Post were told to stay home and join a Zoom meeting at 8:30 A.M. to receive layoff notices. Approximately eight hundred people worked in the newsroom, and about three hundred positions are being cut, on top of hundreds cut in recent years. The Metro bureau, including Prince George's County coverage, was among the hardest hit, reducing local reporting capacity. The cuts represent an extraordinary loss across the newsroom and will hobble the paper going forward. The layoffs have caused deep grief for colleagues and for the institution, and they threaten democratic accountability. Industry pressures and the internet-driven collapse of the newspaper business model contributed to the situation.
Read at The New Yorker
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