Washington Post employees have pleaded with owner Jeff Bezos to halt an impending round of job cuts, but the billionaire has remained silent. Three staff-organised letters, sent over the past two weeks, have gone unanswered, leaving the newsroom bracing for significant reductions.
The first letter, signed by about 60 staff on 25 January, urged Bezos to protect the paper’s foreign news operation, believed to be a major target. Two days later, a second letter appealed for the preservation of local coverage, which has already been halved in five years. “Should you allow Post management to lay off the local staff … the effect on this region will be immeasurable,” it read.
White House reporters later sent a third letter, and staff have shared videos on social media under the hashtag #savethepost. Although chief executive Will Lewis has been copied on some emails, the pleas are directed at Bezos, who staff hope may be more receptive. “He has enough money to do whatever he chooses,” one reporter said.
The mood on the newsroom is described as “funereal”, with many expecting cuts within days. The paper has yet to confirm the layoffs. A protest rally is scheduled outside the Post’s headquarters on Thursday. The staff union criticised Bezos on X, questioning his “failure to monetise some of the world’s most award-winning journalism”.
Staff also noted Bezos’s silence on the 14 January raid of a Post reporter’s home, a move widely condemned by press freedom advocates. Former managing editor Cameron Barr wrote on LinkedIn that “the silence of its enablers” threatens American freedoms. Meanwhile, Bezos faces scrutiny over Amazon’s $75m Melania Trump documentary, following accusations of currying favour with the president after the Post killed its planned Harris endorsement.
