The Washington Post is owned by Jeff Bezos, the Amazon guy. On Wednesday, the company’s CEO held a town hall meeting to tell worried employees that less than 10% of the staff would be laid off. That percentage isn’t very comforting to those who are going to get the axe.
The CEO and publisher of the paper, Fred Ryan, said that the cuts, which are likely to affect the newsroom, will happen in the first quarter of 2023.
Just two weeks ago, the paper said it was getting rid of its Sunday print magazine and laying off 10 newsroom workers and a dance critic because of “economic head winds.” This is precisely what happens when your readers no longer trust you as a credible news source.
On Wednesday, Ryan spoke during a company meeting and confirmed that the upcoming layoffs will probably be in the “single-digit percentage,” range, but he gave hope to those whose jobs “no longer serving readers” by saying that they might find new jobs.
“For those people whose positions will be eliminated, this will be a difficult time,” Ryan said. Probably because no one else is going to want to hire them. Fake news is not a good prospect these days.
Kathy Baird, the paper’s chief communications officer, later told Deadline that there would not be a “net reduction in Post head count,”
VISIT OUR YOUTUBE CHANNELWhen the CEO started talking about leaving, staff members yelled out questions and concerns.
Maybe they should learn to code.
Ryan made it clear that he didn’t want to get involved, saying, “We’re not going to turn the town hall into a grievance session.”
“Fred, you talked about positions getting eliminated. What are you going to do to protect people’s jobs? Are they going to be treated like the magazine staffers were?” asked one worker, referring to the fact that the staff of the Sunday print magazine had been fired suddenly.
“We’ll have more information as we move forward,” said Ryan as he walked out the door. In other words, he didn’t want to talk to them. That means that the decision has been made, and it is final and he doesn’t want confrontation.
Outkick’s Clay Travis tweeted out that the WaPo lost 500,000 subscribers in the past year. Since Joe Biden took office, they went from 3 million subscribers in January 2021, and lost half a million subscribers since. And times are going to be tough for those people laid off because Joe Biden took office in January 2021.
WATCH:
The Washington Post, which has lost 500k subscribers in the past year, has announced layoffs are coming to the paper. The meeting didn’t go well. pic.twitter.com/hOoeyI70jj
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) December 14, 2022
In a statement afterward, the paper’s guild said, “This behavior is unacceptable from any leader, but especially the leader of a news organization whose core values include transparency and accountability.”
The guild tweeted that its members “Diverse, Inclusive & Fair Washington Post,” Ryan “won’t let” The guild’s Twitter banner asks for a “turn his back on workers with urgent questions and valid concerns.”
“Washington Post employees … must be part of any transformation to this company. Stay tuned,” the guild wrote.
Even though Axios said the paper, whose slogan is “Democracy Dies in Darkness” won’t make money this year, it will still be able to keep the lights on.
Baird said in her statement, “We are planning to direct our resources and invest in coverage, products, and people in service of providing high value to our subscribers and new audiences.”
After years of spreading garbage fake news, the Washington Post is where jobs die in the darkness.
