“Democracy dies in darkness” is the motto of the Washington Post. In the sense that information is essential to keep a democracy alive and vital, serving as a check on the powerful. But the light on power, at least for the Washington Post, is bound to dim, all the more so for the environmental reporting done historically with great quality and resources by the prestigious American newspaper.
In fact, the Post has sent layoff letters to at least 14 climate journalists as part of a massive cost-cutting operation that will result in more than 300 journalists and other administrative staff losing their jobs, about 30 percent of all employees at the Jeff Bezos-owned company.
The layoffs on the climate team affect eight writers/journalists, one editor and four reporters covering video, data and graphics. After the layoffs, the Post will still have five climate and environment journalists. An optimal solution for the vast majority of European and even American newspapers, but still two-thirds less than before.
The New York Times writes that Matt Murray, executive editor of the Post, said during a phone call with newsroom employees that the company had “lost too much money for too long and had failed to meet the needs of readers.” Murray also said that “all sections would be affected in some way and the result would be a newspaper that would be even more focused on national news and politics, as well as business and health, and much less on other areas.” The cuts will be concentrated on the sports editorial staff, which will be eliminated, the overseas editorial staffs (especially in the Middle East), the refined Book world Sunday supplement, which will be deleted, the Metro Washington editorial staff, and the climate editorial staff, which will be reduced by two-thirds.
Moreover, the employment trend in recent years was negative, as is the case in many American and European newspapers. About 240 employees had agreed to leave the newspaper at the end of 2023, when exit incentives were proposed aimed at staff with more than a decade of experience. Further buyouts were carried out the previous year (2022), as part of staff reductions that followed years of growth. In January 2025, about 4 percent of advertising, marketing, and printing operations staff were laid off. During the three years leading up to 2026, the total workforce was reduced by about 400 people through these measures. And now another 300 journalists and several dozen administrative staff are being cut.
“The Post,” wrote Ashley Parker, a former Post reporter, in an essay published in The Atlantic, “has survived for nearly 150 years, evolving from a local family newspaper to an indispensable national institution and a pillar of the democratic system. But if the paper’s leadership continues on its current path, it may not survive much longer.”
“Bezos,” wrote former Post fact-checker Glenn Kessler on his Substack, “seems to have adopted a crude calculation: laying off staff and downsizing a once-great news organization sends a message to an audience of one at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue (the address of the White House, ed.). But after all, this is no surprise: after the election Bezos worked hard to ingratiate himself with Trump.”
After the election – indeed, before, with the choice not to make the endorsement in favor of Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee – the Washington Post became very close to Trump and Amazon, the company led by Jeff Bezos, helped finance Trump’s inauguration, as well as the demolition of the East Wing of the White House. Amazon MGM Studios then spent $75 million to purchase and market “Melania,” a propaganda film about Trump’s wife.
The change in political line caused a hemorrhage of subscribers — 250,000 immediately after the decision not to make the endorsement for the presidential candidate — to the digital version of the newspaper. And that has helped sink the Post‘s accounts, already in the red. Losses in 2024 were about $100 million-an increase of 30 percent from 2023 losses of about $77 million. Advertising revenues fell in 2024 from $190 million to $174 million over the year. The response, a response that will impoverish the product and its authority, has been cuts. That by affecting the quality of the newspaper,and potentially its circulation, they risk not being the last.
