❓WHAT HAPPENED: The Washington Post laid off nearly 300 employees, terminated its current sports section, books section, and Post Reports podcast, and closed several international bureaus.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: The Washington Post‘s executive editor Matt Murray, human resources director Wayne Connell, and affected employees, including reporters and editors.
📍WHEN & WHERE: The layoffs occurred on Wednesday, February 4, 2026, with employees informed via a Zoom webinar.
💬KEY QUOTE: “This wasn’t a financial decision, it was an ideological one” — Former Washington Post race and ethnicity reporter Emmanuel Felton
🎯IMPACT: The newspaper has struggled financially for years, with its budgetary situation becoming especially tenuous after the 2024 presidential election.
The Washington Post cut nearly 300 employees on Wednesday, eliminating its current sports section, books section, and the Post Reports podcast. The company also closed several international bureaus, including those in the Middle East, Asia, and Ukraine. Employees were informed of the layoffs during a Zoom webinar led by executive editor Matt Murray and human resources director Wayne Connell.
A number of the Jeff Bezos-owned newspaper’s employees took to social media to criticize the layoffs. Race and ethnicity reporter Emmanuel Felton argues the decision was “ideological,” noting that his job had been described as a subscription driver. “This wasn’t a financial decision, it was an ideological one,” he claimed. Other critics of the layoffs, including retired Washington Post editor Robert McCartney, slammed the loss of international coverage. McCartney noted, “Apparently, The Post has laid off every reporter and editor covering the Middle East. Jerusalem bureau closed. Also Ukraine bureau closed.”
The newspaper has struggled financially for years, with its budgetary situation becoming especially tenuous after the 2024 presidential election. The National Pulse previously reported that The Washington Post lost $100 million in revenue in 2024 alone. Notably, the newest round of layoffs follows earlier staff reductions in both 2025 and 2023.
The Post’s refusal to endorse Kamala Harris for President in 2024 and Bezos’s announcement last February that the newspaper’s editorial page would focus on promoting “personal liberties and free markets” previously led to tens of thousands of liberal readers cancelling their subscriptions.
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