Jeff Bezos Is Putting The Washington Post Into Hospice | Defector

"The Washington Post's suicide-by-1,000-cuts business plan is going swimmingly. Word of the most recent act of self-harm came with a New York Times report on Friday on an internal memo informing the staff that the Jeff Bezos regime had decided "not to send a contingent to the Winter Olympics." The opening ceremony in Milan is under two weeks away. News that the Post intended to no-show an event that it had historically flooded with reporters was partially walked back on Monday,"

"The media blog Status wrote that "as many as 300 Post employees," or more than a third of the entire staff, were about to be RIF'd. Puck's Dylan Byers tweeted that he'd heard that "hundreds" of employees were expected to be let go and the "sports desk could be shuttered entirely." At an afternoon meeting on Monday, according to former Postie Paul Farhi, editors told the foreign staff that "half" the newsroom will be let go."

"Erik Wemple, the Times reporter who broke the Olympics story, reported that a group of foreign correspondents sent a "collective plea" to Bezos asking the big guy to preserve the paper's international coverage from his next round of slashes. "We urge you to consider how the proposed layoffs will certainly lead us first to irrelevance and later extinction - not the shared success that remains attainable," read the correspondents' missive to the boss."

The Washington Post is implementing deep cuts that have reduced event coverage and prompted plans for substantial layoffs. An internal memo indicated a decision not to send a contingent to the Winter Olympics in Milan, later revised to four reporters. Reports and rumors suggest an apocalyptic round of layoffs could eliminate hundreds of positions, possibly more than a third of staff, and significantly shrink foreign and sports desks. Sources said editors told foreign staff that half the newsroom may be let go. Foreign correspondents sent a collective plea to Jeff Bezos warning that proposed cuts would cause irrelevance and eventual extinction. The sports desk reportedly declined to send its two Washington Nationals beat reporters.

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