The traditional “Washington Post” is facing drastic staff cuts. Foreign correspondents as well as the areas of local news, sports and literature are particularly affected.
02/05/2026, 09:3702/05/2026, 09:37
Clear-cutting at the “Washington Post”: The daily newspaper from the US capital, which has been in crisis for years, announced on Wednesday that it would cut numerous journalist positions. According to US media, around a third of the workforce has to leave. Trade unionists fear for the credibility of the newspaper, the “Amazon” founders Jeff Bezos took over in 2013.
The Washington Post is cutting numerous jobs.Image: keystone
In a message to around 800 journalists, managing editor-in-chief Matt Murray spoke of a “painful” restructuring of the “Washington Post”. It makes it possible to secure the future of the newspaper. Murray did not name the exact number of positions affected.
According to AFP information, most of the newspaper’s foreign correspondents have to leave. Among other things, reporting on the Middle East will be drastically restricted, said a correspondent who did not want to be named. The local news, the sports pages and the book supplements are also massively affected, as the editorial team reported. The in-house union explained: “An editorial team cannot be undermined without this having consequences for its credibility, its reach and its future.”
Bezos turned to Trump
According to media reports, the daily newspaper that uncovered the Watergate scandal and whose reporters received numerous Pulitzer Prizes has been in the red for years. One reason is subscription cancellations in connection with Bezos’ affection for the US President Donald Trump.
Contrary to tradition, the Washington Post had already refrained from reporting on the Democratic candidate in the 2024 presidential election campaign Kamala Harris to support with an editorial. In 2024, an initial restructuring of the editorial team caused unrest. Many journalists then switched to the competition.
During Trump’s first term in office (2017 to 2021), the paper did relatively well economically thanks to its reporting, which was considered to be unsparing. However, after the right-wing populist was voted out in autumn 2020, reader interest waned and business figures collapsed.