Washington
Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos stays silent as employees brace for cuts
While Washington Post employees remain in the dark about an impending round of cuts that could dramatically reshape the publication, the man that many hoped could soften or stop the blow, owner Jeff Bezos, has remained silent.
So far, three staff-organized letters sent by Post employees to Bezos imploring him to protect the Post’s robust coverage have gone unanswered.
The first plea went to Bezos on 25 January, when about 60 people signed a letter asking him to protect the company’s foreign news operation, which is rumored to be a major target of cost-cutting.
Two days later, employees sent Bezos a letter asking him to preserve the newspaper’s local coverage, which is also said to be at risk for heavy cuts.
“Should you allow Post management to lay off the local staff, which has been cut in half in the last five years, the effect on this region and the people in it will be immeasurable,” the staffers wrote. “We care deeply about the DC area, and we know you do, too.”
At the end of last week, the publication’s White House reporters sent a letter to Bezos urging him to avoid cutting coverage areas central to its readership. Post staffers have also filmed and posted videos on social media urging Bezos to “#savethepost”.
While Post chief executive Will Lewis has been included on at least one of the emails, the letters have been addressed to Bezos, who some staffers hope might be more persuadable. (Matt Murray, the Post’s top editor, has had private discussions with several Post journalists in recent weeks, according to a source with knowledge of the situation.)
“As the Post’s [owner], Bezos is ultimately making the call on these cuts,” said a Post staffer who signed one of the letters but was not authorized to comment. “He also has enough money to do whatever he chooses here. Reporters across the newsroom want to be sure he understands the magnitude of the devastating cuts that we all expect are coming.”
Emails sent by the Guardian to Bezos and a representative at the company he founded, Amazon, have not been returned. A Post spokesperson declined to comment on the rumored cuts.
The Post staffer described the mood at the paper as “funereal”, with many expecting the cuts to come in the next few days – though the publication still has not acknowledged or confirmed that anything is happening. A rally to protest the cuts has been scheduled for outside the Post’s headquarters on Thursday.
On Monday, the union representing most Post employees called out Bezos in a series of posts on Twitter/X. “If @JeffBezos follows through with his reported plan to decimate the Post’s newsroom, it will be a huge indictment of his supposed business prowess,” the account wrote. “How else to explain his failure to monetize some of the world’s most award-winning, agenda-setting journalism?”
Some Post staffers also noted that Bezos has not yet commented on the 14 January raid of a Post reporter’s home, even though many groups that advocate for journalists decried the government’s tactics as unprecedented and dangerous. Cameron Barr, a former managing editor of the Post, called out Bezos for his silence in a post on LinkedIn, writing: “It’s not just the chest-thumping overreach of the Trump administration that will crush American freedoms – it’s the silence of its enablers.”
Amazon and Bezos have also faced criticism for spending approximately $75m to acquire and promote a documentary about Melania Trump – particularly after Bezos faced accusations of cozying up to Trump by killing the Post’s planned endorsement last fall of Kamala Harris for president.
Glenn Kessler, who ended a 27-year-long career at the Post last year, expressed cautious optimism about the campaign to reach Bezos. “That kind of pushback might have an impact,” he said. “We don’t really know until we see what the actual result is.”
Kessler said he and a few other reporters had lunch with Bezos, who purchased the paper in 2013, after Donald Trump’s victory in the 2016 election. “He wanted to hear war stories and that sort of thing,” he recalled. “He was quite interested in what people did. He had this great laugh, and he seemed quite engaged.”
But Kessler was heavily critical of Bezos’s handling of the Harris endorsement and his decision to refocus the section’s opinion page to prioritize writing “in support and defense of two pillars: personal liberties and free markets”, decisions that led to the resignation of a top editor and quickly cost the Post hundreds of thousands of subscribers.
“Even before these cuts, you can question the quality of Bezos’s stewardship,” Kessler said. “The sense I get is that he’s not nearly as engaged with the Post as he once was. If you’re not really that engaged or invested in the thing that you own, the easiest thing to do is to cut back the money you’re losing on it.”
“I think it’s hard to overestimate how excited the journalists and editors were when Bezos bought the company,” recalled political journalist Chris Cillizza, who worked at the Post from 2006 to 2017. “The richest man in the world buys the company and he says all the right things. I think people were slower to see that something had changed because they wanted to believe so badly that the original sense we had of Bezos was it.”
Cillizza remembered being skeptical when Bezos said he intended the Post to be profitable. “I remember thinking to myself even then, in 2013: ‘Man, that’s going to be tough.’”
While Bezos has stayed silent about potential cuts to the Post, and ignored an effort by the union last year to get him to visit the newspaper, he was more visibly engaged with one of his other companies on Monday, the spaceflight startup Blue Origin.
Bezos was on hand to meet secretary of defense Pete Hegseth, who last November called the Post’s reporting “fake news”, during a visit to the company’s facility in Florida. “Great to see you,” Bezos told Hegseth. “Welcome – it’s an honor to have you.”
Crews are on the scene of a serious crash on I-95 South in Stafford, Virginia.
Virginia State Police confirmed the crash was fatal but has not yet confirmed how many fatalities there were.
All southbound lanes are closed at mile marker 146.
Traffic is being diverted to Route 1 at exit 148.
This is a developing story. Stay with News4 and nbcwashington.com for updates.
Washington
Sounders FC, Starbucks and Washington Youth Soccer launch Washington Youth Soccer Match Pass to celebrate the next generation of soccer across the Evergreen State | Seattle Sounders
RENTON, WASH. – Sounders FC, in partnership with Starbucks and Washington Youth Soccer, today announced the launch of the Washington Youth Soccer Match Pass, a first-of-its-kind statewide initiative designed to inspire the next generation of young athletes across the Evergreen State. As the sport reaches a defining moment across North America, the Washington Youth Soccer Match Pass invites every registered Washington Youth Soccer athlete aged 18 and under to receive a complimentary ticket to select home matches this season, connecting young players and their families across Washington to the heart of Sounders FC matchdays and Pacific Northwest soccer culture.
More than a ticket initiative, the Washington Youth Soccer Match Pass is rooted in a shared belief that soccer belongs to everyone who plays it. With over 90,000 registered Washington Youth Soccer athletes eligible for the program – which includes access to additional discounted tickets for friends and family members – the Washington Youth Soccer Match Pass celebrates those that continue to shape the sport’s strong foundation across the state. Coming at a significant moment for soccer in the region, with Seattle hosting six matches during the FIFA World Cup 2026™ this summer, Sounders FC and its partners are joining together to invest in the players, families, clubs and communities that fuel the game year-round.
“The Washington Youth Soccer Match Pass is about recognizing that every young player across Washington is already part of the story of this club,” said Sounders FC President of Business Operations Hugh Weber. “The Sounders are not just Seattle’s club – it’s Washington’s soccer club. Many of the players who wear our crest today, including Jordan Morris, Paul Rothrock and Jackson Ragen, grew up playing in Washington Youth Soccer. Their journeys are proof that the connection between local soccer communities and Sounders FC is real, lasting and deeply rooted.”
The program is available for the Rave Green’s final 12 MLS regular-season and Leagues Cup home matches of the 2026 campaign, beginning with Seattle’s first contest after the 2026 FIFA World Cup break against archrival Portland Timbers on Thursday, July 16 (7:30 p.m. PT / Apple TV, FS1, iHeartMedia Seattle, El Rey 1360 AM). Eligible Washington Youth Soccer athletes can access the offer through a **dedicated online portal** using their WYS Player ID.
With Seattle as its hometown, Starbucks is deeply rooted in communities across Washington and beyond. Starbucks serves as the initiative’s founding partner to make professional soccer more accessible for families throughout the season. A longtime Sounders FC partner, Starbucks joins the club in its commitment to creating meaningful opportunities for youth athletes and their families across Washington, reinforcing shared values of community, connection and access to the game.
“We are proud to partner with Sounders FC and Washington Youth Soccer to expand our support for youth soccer across our hometown of Seattle and communities across Washington,” said Starbucks Senior Vice President of Global Marketing Erin Silvoy. “At Starbucks, we believe sports are a powerful force for connection, that brings people together through shared rituals and moments of joy. By helping more youth experience soccer first-hand, we hope to inspire the next generation while supporting the athletes, coaches and families who make our communities stronger.”
Founded in 1961, Washington Youth Soccer is one of the region’s leading youth sports organizations, helping shape generations of players and families through recreational and competitive opportunities across the state for more than 60 years. Affiliated with U.S. Youth Soccer, U.S. Soccer and FIFA, Washington Youth Soccer works alongside nearly 200 member clubs and local associations to help grow and strengthen the game at every level, creating accessible pathways and enriching experiences for youth athletes and their families throughout Washington.
”We see this partnership as a catalyst to inspire the next generation of youth soccer players,” said Washington Youth Soccer Executive Director Roger Levesque. “There is something unique about attending a Sounders match at Lumen Field – the sights, sounds and world-class soccer all contribute to a goose bump-inducing experience. But the true inspiration comes from living the highs and lows of a match together, alongside family, friends and thousands of fans, who for 90 minutes, are all on the same team. We are grateful for the opportunity to work with Sounders FC and Starbucks to bring this experience and the joy of soccer to the Washington Youth Soccer community.”
MLS is currently amid an extended break from play for the FIFA World Cup 2026™, with Seattle returning to action on Thursday, July 16 against the Portland Timbers on the Emerald Queen Casino Pitch at Lumen Field (7:30 p.m. PT / Apple TV, iHeartMedia Seattle, El Rey 1360 AM).
ABOUT SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC
Born in 1974 and a member of Major League Soccer since 2009, Seattle Sounders FC is one of North America’s leading professional soccer organizations. The club has captured nine major trophies since its inaugural MLS season, and following its Leagues Cup victory in 2025, Seattle became the first team in U.S. soccer history to win every major competition (Concacaf Champions Cup, MLS Cup, Supporters’ Shield, U.S. Open Cup, Leagues Cup). Since the club’s MLS debut, Sounders fans have set the standard for soccer support in North America, leading the league in attendance for eight-consecutive seasons (2009-2016), routinely ranking in the global top 30 among all professional clubs and never finishing outside of MLS’ top three.
Since 1971, Starbucks Coffee Company has been committed to responsibly sourcing and roasting hi-quality arabica coffee. Today, with a global footprint of more than 41,000 company-operated and licensed coffeehouses and a growing presence in consumer-packaged goods, we are the world’s premier purveyor of specialty coffee. Through our unwavering commitment to excellence and our guiding principles, we bring the unique Starbucks Experience to life for every customer through every cup. To share in the experience, please visit us in our stores or online at about.starbucks.com or www.starbucks.com.
ABOUT WASHINGTON YOUTH SOCCER
Washington Youth Soccer (WYS) is the largest youth sports organization in Washington State, serving more than 90,000 players through a network of over 200 member associations and clubs statewide. WYS is committed to fostering the physical, mental, and emotional growth of youth through the game of soccer by creating opportunities for players of all backgrounds and ability levels to learn, compete, and thrive. Through leagues, tournaments, player development programs, coaching education, community partnerships, and initiatives supported by the Washington Youth Soccer Foundation, WYS works to grow the game and create meaningful experiences for young athletes across Washington.
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