The Washington Post has begun one of the largest newsroom reductions in its modern history, dismantling entire desks and shrinking its global footprint as part of what leadership calls a “strategic reset.” Staff learned of the cuts through brief Zoom announcements followed by individual layoff emails.
What’s being eliminated:
- Sports — dissolved “in its current form,” with remaining reporters reassigned to Features to cover sports as culture rather than as a standalone beat.
- Books — the entire Books section is being shuttered, including editors and critics.
- Podcasts — the flagship Post Reports podcast is being cancelled.
Foreign coverage shrinks: The Post is reducing its overseas presence, cutting multiple foreign correspondents and scaling back several bureaus. Reporters in Cairo and other international posts have publicly confirmed their roles were eliminated.
Metro gutted: The Metro desk — historically central to the Post’s identity — is being dramatically downsized. Internal estimates suggest the team will drop from roughly 40 reporters to about a dozen.
Why it’s happening: Owner Jeff Bezos ordered a restructuring after the paper posted losses estimated at $170 million+. Executive Editor Matt Murray framed the layoffs as a shift toward “core coverage” areas like federal politics and national security.
Staff reaction: Journalists across the newsroom have criticized the process as opaque and disrespectful, noting that no questions were taken during the announcement and that many learned their fate only through automated emails.
Impact: The cuts mark a decisive move away from the Post’s broad, legacy newsroom model toward a leaner, politics‑centric operation — a contraction that will reshape national accountability reporting for years.