Washington Post Lays Off 20 Journalists

The Washington Submit laid off 20 individuals from its newsroom on Tuesday, in response to a observe despatched to its workers.

Within the observe, Sally Buzbee, the chief editor, stated the corporate had additionally recognized 30 open positions that may not be stuffed.

“Newsroom leaders made these selections after a considerate and deliberate overview of our present roles and vacant positions,” Ms. Buzbee wrote.

She stated individuals who have been laid off have been eligible to use for open positions.

“Whereas such adjustments usually are not straightforward, evolution is important for us to remain aggressive, and the financial local weather has guided our choice to behave now,” Ms. Buzbee stated. “We consider these steps will in the end assist us to satisfy our mission to scrutinize energy and empower readers. We aren’t planning additional job eliminations right now.”

The layoffs affected a number of departments, together with The Submit’s metro workers, in response to three individuals with information of the choice. The net gaming vertical Launcher was shut down, in addition to KidsPost, a piece of the newspaper for kids, in response to one other individual with information of the adjustments. The newsroom has greater than 1,000 staff.

On Tuesday, whereas within the means of notifying those that had misplaced their jobs, The Submit despatched an e mail to workers members concerning the hiring of three new journalists.

The layoffs culminate weeks of uncertainty for The Submit’s newsroom, which had been bracing for the cuts since Fred Ryan, the paper’s writer, introduced he was enacting a “single-digit” proportion reorganization of the corporate’s workers throughout a contentious all-hands assembly in December.

Mr. Ryan has advised editors that he needs to focus The Submit’s sources on positions that drive on-line readership and engagement and away from some conventional print beats, the individuals stated.

The Submit’s union stated in a press release on Tuesday that it had not obtained a “clear clarification for why the layoffs are occurring regardless of quite a few makes an attempt to get solutions.”

“We’re nonetheless studying how many individuals might be impacted and whether or not there might be any effort to assist them discover new positions internally — which is the least the corporate may do at a time of continued progress and growth,” the union stated.

Roughly 60 workers members have joined the union since Mr. Ryan introduced final month that layoffs have been coming.

In current months, The Submit has grappled with stalled subscriber progress and falling advert income, in addition to tensions between its newsroom and management. The corporate misplaced cash final 12 months, and it now has fewer than the three million subscribers it had on the finish of 2020.

The layoffs adopted a uncommon go to to The Submit’s newsroom by its proprietor, Jeff Bezos, the Amazon founder. Final week, Mr. Bezos met with senior leaders and sat in on a information assembly. One member of the workers approached Mr. Bezos as he left the assembly and requested why The Submit wasn’t providing staff buyouts earlier than resorting to layoffs.