Washington Post staffers are bracing for layoffs as morale in the newsroom has plummeted in the wake of an exodus of top talent from the Jeff Bezos-owned broadsheet, according to a report.
The imminent staff cuts are expected to impact “many dozens” of employees in the business division — with an announcement possibly coming down as soon as this week, according to Oliver Darcy of the Status newsletter.
News of the anticipated layoffs came on the heels of Friday’s resignation from the Washington Post by Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Ann Telnaes, who quit in protest of the paper’s decision not to publish a cartoon that depicts Bezos and other billionaires kowtowing to President-elect Donald Trump.
The Washington Post suffered another blow as one of its top political reporters, Josh Dawsey, is set to depart the publication and take up a position with the Wall Street Journal, Darcy reported in Status over the weekend.
Dawsey, known for his scoops and his investigative reporting, is expected to begin his new gig as political investigations reporter for the Journal starting next month, according to Status.
Last month, Puck News reported that Dawsey and White House reporter Tyler Pager were two of several Washington Post staffers who were “mulling a transfer or have already decided to exit.”
The Journal’s parent company, Dow Jones, is owned by The Post’s corporate parent, News Corp.
Last week, two other senior political reporters for the Washington Post — Ashley Parker and Michael Scherer — left the publication to take up new positions at The Atlantic, the magazine owned by Laurene Powell Jobs, widow of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.
In late October, two Washington Post staffers quit its editorial board in protest of Bezos’ decision to block an endorsement of the Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris.
Bezos said the move to block the endorsement was made in order to bolster public confidence in his newspaper’s impartiality.
But readers of the newspaper were angered by the move. As many as 250,000 subscribers canceled their memberships as a result, according to reports.
The Amazon founder denied that the decision was motivated by his desire to ingratiate himself with Trump so as to safeguard his other business interests.
Amazon Prime, the streaming video service run by the e-commerce giant founded by Bezos, announced over the weekend that it obtained exclusive rights to a documentary that offers an “unprecedented behind-the-scenes look” at the life of Melania Trump, the former and future first lady.
During Trump’s first term, the then-president took frequent shots at Bezos and cited the Washington Post’s critical coverage of his administration.
Amazon filed suit against the Trump administration after the e-commerce company lost out on a lucrative cloud-computing contract with the Pentagon. The contract was awarded to Microsoft.
Bezos appears eager to turn over a new leaf in his relations with the incoming president.
Last month, Bezos made a $1 million donation to Trump’s inaugural fund through Amazon. Even though Bezos stepped down as CEO in 2021, he remains the company’s largest shareholder.
