The Bezos-owned paper is losing money, according to a report by archrival New York Times
© Getty Images / Stefani Reynolds
The Washington Post is in a financial downward spiral, according to the paper’s archrival, the New York Times, which analyzed its competitor’s fortunes in a report published on Tuesday. Not only is the Post on track to lose money in 2022 after “years of profitability,” but it may have to lay off as much as 10% of its newsroom staff, the exposé claims.
Without former President Donald Trump drawing traffic, the Post has lost readers, especially online, where its ranks of paying digital subscribers have dropped below three million, reversing two years of gains. Meanwhile, digital ad revenues are down by 15% over the previous year’s numbers, according to an internal financial document seen by the Times.
Belt-tightening measures could see as many as 100 newsroom employees let go, insider sources claimed, citing statements made by CEO and publisher Fred Ryan to newsroom leaders. That would amount to 10% of the newsroom staff. While this might be accomplished via a hiring freeze rather than outright layoffs, Ryan is reportedly fed up with “unproductive” employees who work from home instead of commuting.
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A Post spokeswoman denied reductions were coming, claiming that not only was the paper not cutting back but that it was actually hiring more staffers and “exploring positions that should be repurposed to serve a larger, national and global audience.” The Post’s financial situation was not nearly as dire as the internal documents seen by the Times made it out to be, she argued. Editor Sally Buzbee backed her up, claiming the newsroom was currently adding 150 positions.
Buzbee acknowledged that the paper needed to “diversify what people come to us for,” and the spokeswoman noted that it was opening new international news hubs, focusing on attracting younger readers and partnering with Hollywood studio Imagine Entertainment, and would surely “see returns, both in consumer and advertising revenue, on this work in the coming year.”
She fervently denied rumors that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who bought the Post in 2013 for $250 million, was losing interest in his newspaper, despite a drop-off in Zoom and phone meetings over the last two years.
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Despite its fiscal ills, the Post apparently has big dreams, as five insiders claimed executives had discussed acquiring rivals as large as the Associated Press, The Guardian, and The Economist. The paper’s Strategic Review Team suggested a major overseas purchase would be an easy way to achieve the CEO’s stated goal of becoming “the definitive source of news and information for the English-speaking world.”
