Washington Post Mass Layoffs Have Caused ‘Genuine Trauma’ Among Staff
Matt Murray, top Washington Post editor, stated there was a “widespread sense of loss, of genuine trauma” during a town hall meeting with staff in regards to the company laying off nearly a third of its employees last week. Murray also tried to give some hope as well, by saying that he had confidence the Post was on a path to success.
“There’s no doubt that just the sheer depth of the cuts – and also, with that, the reality of what we face at the Post – has been a very hard thing to wrap our heads around and to grapple with.”
Murray joined the Post in 2024. He said it was a “shocking discovery” for management to take in the level of the financial issues that the company is facing, however, he said he “did not want to look backwards and litigate the past.”
“The company has been a mess in lots of ways for a long time, but I’m confident stars are aligning in a positive way.”
Post leadership, according to Murray, used data on readership trends to determine which areas to cut. Sports, international, local, and style sections were specifically hit very hard.
“I’m sure we got some things wrong, but if I look around the room with everybody here, I know we got a lot of things right,” he said.
The Post felt a huge wave of success when Trump was in the White House during his first administration due to the fact that the publication was responsible for breaking news first, however, during his current presidency, many readers aren’t clicking the headlines.
“People are reading about Donald Trump, but they also want to escape from Donald Trump,” Murray said.
Murray was also observed to “downplay” the number of Post customers who canceled their subscriptions, according to reports. “It’s been not very heavy, and it’s been completely within predicted models and expectations, and completely baked into the plan.”
Jeff D’Onofrio was named acting publisher by owner Jeff Bezos recently, and introduced himself to employees while addressing the high levels of layoffs.
“For the past five years, the Post has not directly addressed deeply rooted problems, turning an eye at our revenue downturn and staying our course despite shifting traffic and user habits,” D’Onofrio said.
“This was a decision to change the scope and direction of our business.”
D’Onofrio joined the Post last June as chief financial officer. To his colleagues, he said: “I need you to know that we will get to the other side of this … We are on the same team. It can’t be any other way.”
Reporters and other staff are not as convinced about the future of the publication. One veteran reporter asked Murray why employees should still believe in management, as they felt they have “not seen this place as demoralized as it is right now.”
“I can’t tell you to believe in me or believe in Jeff or believe in other Jeff. We’re here, we’re talking, and I have an incredible amount of faith in the masthead team,” Murray responded.
“How are we possibly supposed to move forward when we are demonstrating to the people we are begging to give us their money every day that we can’t even do the basics any more?” another reporter asked.
Eric Mastrota is a Contributing Editor at The National Digest based in New York. A graduate of SUNY New Paltz, he reports on world news, culture, and lifestyle. You can reach him at eric.mastrota@thenationaldigest.com.
