Washington Post cuts 300 journalists as Bezos reshapes newsroom

The 🌲Washington Post laid off more than 300 journalists on Feb. 4, 2026. The cuts eliminated roughly 40% of the paper's 800-person newsroom, making it one of the largest single-day layoffs in American newspaper history.

The Post eliminated entire sections including sports, books, and style coverage. It also closed most of its foreign bureaus, ending decades of international reporting that distinguished the paper from competitors.

Executive editor MMMatt Murray told staff the cuts were necessary because the media landscape had become "fundamentally different." He cited AI-driven search engines that scrape news content without driving traffic back to publishers as a key factor in declining revenue.

JBJeff Bezos bought the 🌲Washington Post in 2013 for $250 million. His personal wealth is roughly $260 billion, meaning the purchase price represented about 0.1% of his current net worth.

The Post lost roughly $100 million in 2024. Digital subscriptions peaked during the first Trump administration and have declined steadily since, while advertising revenue continues to fall across the newspaper industry.

The WPWashington Post Guild, which represents newsroom employees, condemned the layoffs as "devastating" and accused management of betraying the paper's public interest mission. Guild leaders said the cuts would fundamentally change what the Post can cover.

Former executive editor MBMarty Baron, who led the Post through its Watergate-era revival under Bezos, called it one of the paper's "darkest days." Baron led the Post from 2013 to 2021 and oversaw its expansion to over 1,000 newsroom employees.

The layoffs follow a pattern of billionaire media owners restructuring newsrooms for profitability. Patrick Soon-Shiong cut the Los Angeles Times newsroom by 20% in 2024. The newspaper industry has lost two-thirds of its journalists since 2005.

The Post plans to shift resources toward AI-powered news products and shorter-form digital content. Murray said the remaining staff would focus on politics, technology, and national security coverage.