'Washington Post' journalists plea to Bezos: Don't gut our newsroom

WASHINGTON – In an extraordinary public appeal, journalists at The Washington Post are directly petitioning owner Jeff Bezos to halt a widely anticipated, and potentially deep, round of newsroom layoffs. The move signals a dramatic breakdown in trust between the newsroom and its new leadership, turning the paper's internal turmoil into a public crisis just over a decade after the Amazon founder was hailed as its savior.

The pleas, articulated in open letters and social media posts, come amid a deafening silence from Bezos and recently appointed CEO and Publisher Will Lewis, who have yet to publicly address the paper's strategy or the scale of the impending cuts. This leadership vacuum has fueled anxiety and crippled morale within one of America's most storied journalistic institutions.

A Financial Reversal and Looming Reductions

After years of growth and digital innovation fueled by Bezos's investment, the Post's financial fortunes have reversed. The paper is now reportedly losing tens of millions of dollars annually, a stark contrast to the profitable "Trump bump" era. This downturn has set the stage for what employees fear will be a significant downsizing.

While the company has made no formal announcement, the Post Guild and internal sources paint a grim picture of the potential cuts.

• Current Newsroom Strength: The Post currently employs just under 800 journalists, a high-water mark achieved under Bezos's ownership.
• Potential Job Losses: Union members have been warned that between 100 and 300 positions could be eliminated across the company, with a substantial portion expected to come from the newsroom.
• Previous Cuts: This follows a round of voluntary buyouts offered to newsroom staff in the fall of 2023 and layoffs on the business side a year ago, indicating a sustained period of cost-cutting.

A Crisis of Confidence in Leadership

The decision by scores of journalists to bypass the paper's executive leadership and appeal directly to its billionaire owner underscores a profound crisis of confidence. According to numerous current and former staffers, the lack of communication from CEO Will Lewis about his vision for the paper has eroded the trust built during the previous decade.

"I'm very disappointed and find it contrary to what [Bezos] said at the time," former Executive Editor Leonard Downie Jr., who led the paper for 17 years, told NPR. "There's been no announcement about this, no rationale about this. No vision for what the paper ought to be. I'm disturbed and surprised by that."

This sentiment is echoed inside the newsroom.

• Bypassing the CEO: Six staffers cited a lack of faith in Lewis as the primary reason for appealing directly to Bezos.
• Damaging Silence: The absence of a clear strategic plan from Lewis and Bezos is seen as a major factor in the collapse of internal trust.
• An Owner's Role: Journalists are looking to Bezos to reaffirm his commitment, especially after he remained publicly silent following the FBI's seizure of reporter Hannah Natanson's devices in a national security leak investigation, even as Lewis and Executive Editor Matt Murray offered strong institutional support.

Operational Disruption and Internal Warnings

The pervasive uncertainty is now actively disrupting newsgathering operations. In an unusual and alarming development, editors have begun advising their reporters in ways that suggest they are bracing for imminent layoffs.

This guidance reveals an organization preparing for impact, with managers caught between executing on the paper's mission and protecting their staff from potential personal and professional harm.

• International Peril: Editors on the foreign desk have reportedly advised correspondents to decline assignments in dangerous locations after a specific date, fearing a reporter could be laid off while in a high-risk environment.
• Quiet Career Counseling: On the foreign, metro, and sports desks, some editors have quietly encouraged their journalists to seriously consider any external job offers they might receive.
• Scaled-Back Ambitions: The paper abruptly canceled plans for a team to cover the Winter Olympics in Italy, forfeiting a significant financial deposit for facilities. After an internal backlash, Executive Editor Matt Murray reinstated the trip, but with a smaller, scaled-back team of four journalists.

From Savior to Shareholder: A Shifting Narrative

The current crisis marks a stark departure from the narrative that defined Bezos's first years as owner. His 2013 acquisition for $250 million was seen as an act of civic patronage, rescuing a pillar of American democracy from mounting financial struggles. He invested heavily, expanding the newsroom, funding technological innovation, and backing aggressive, independent journalism.

During the Trump administration, Bezos publicly supported then-Executive Editor Marty Baron's robust coverage, even as it drew the ire of the president. The paper's 2017 adoption of the motto "Democracy Dies in Darkness" symbolized this era of confident, mission-driven investment.

Now, with the paper bleeding cash, the newsroom fears its patron is behaving more like a conventional shareholder demanding cost corrections, with little regard for the journalistic mission he once championed.

The Path Forward: A Call for Stewardship

The Washington Post Guild, the union representing hundreds of newsroom employees, has vehemently opposed any further cuts. In a public statement, the Guild warned that new reductions would "weaken the newspaper, drive away readers and undercut the Post's mission."

The statement concluded with a direct challenge to its owner.

• The Guild's Ultimatum: "If Jeff Bezos no longer supports that mission, then the Post and its readers deserve a steward who does."
• Implications for the Brand: The public pleas and operational turmoil risk significant damage to the 148-year-old brand, which built its reputation on historic investigations like the Pentagon Papers and Watergate.
• An Uncertain Future: Until Bezos or Lewis provides a clear strategic vision, the Post remains in a state of suspended animation. The immediate future will be defined by how leadership responds to the public outcry from its own journalists and whether the owner who once saved the paper is now prepared to oversee its diminishment.