According to the Wall Street Journal, the newspaper would have lost 100 million dollars in 2024, in a context of low advertising and subscription revenues.
Hundreds of people demonstrated in front of the Washington Post office on Thursday against owner Jeff Bezzos’ decision to lay off a large part of the newsroom.
“Democracy dies in darkness. And you, Jeff Bezzos, turned out the light”, was written on a poster, in reference to the newspaper’s slogan and its multimillionaire owner.
“When you see unprecedented attacks on the press, as well as negative sentiment against journalists just because they do their job, it is dangerous to reduce staff in this way,” Michael Brice-Saddler, who covered the US capital for the newspaper before being fired, told AFP.
The Washington Post did not reveal the number of jobs lost, but around 300 journalists out of 800 were expected to be laid off, the New York Times reported.
Most of the correspondents abroad, including in the Middle East and Ukraine, were fired.
Sports and book publishing, podcasts, local information and infographics were heavily reduced or even extinguished.
“Yesterday, it was moving. Today, I’m angry,” said Sarah Kaplan, who is not among the group of those laid off.
“I don’t deny that the Post is going through a difficult financial situation. I know it is a very difficult period for the entire media industry, but the fact that we are losing so much money is largely due to the mismanagement of our leaders,” said this journalist specializing in global climate disruption.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the newspaper would have lost 100 million dollars in 2024, in a context of low advertising and subscription revenues.
The daily’s refusal to support Democratic candidate Kamala Harris in the last presidential election would have caused the loss of 250,000 subscribers.
Many see these dismissals as the hand of Jeff Bezos, who became very close to Donald Trump.
