Washington Post Starts Massive Layoff, Closes Sports Department

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) The Washington Post informed its staff on Wednesday that it was starting a widespread layoff that would gut its sports department and shrink its international footprint, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The job cuts were announced by Executive Editor Matt Murray on a call with employees, the source said, requesting anonymity as the matter was private.

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"We will be closing the sports department in its current form," Murray said in a company-wide call that began at 8:30 a.m. ET. The call transcript was shared with Reuters by the source.

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"All departments are impacted. Politics and government will remain our largest desk and will remain central to our engagement and subscriber growth."

The Post did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The move comes days after the newspaper scaled back its coverage of the 2026 Winter Olympics amid mounting financial losses.

News outlets are struggling to maintain a sustainable business model after the internet upended the economics of journalism, shifting trust toward creators and causing digital ad rates to tank.

The more than 145-year-old newspaper made changes across several business functions to navigate those challenges by announcing job cuts last year, saying the reductions would not impact its newsroom.

The Washington Post, owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, has been cutting costs in recent years. It offered voluntary separation packages to employees across all functions in 2023 amid losses of $100 million.

In a letter to Bezos last week (January 29), The Post's White House staff said their most impactful coverage depends heavily on collaboration with teams at risk of job cuts and that a diversified newsroom is essential at a time when the paper faces financial challenges.

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