The Washington Post used to be one of the best gigs in journalism. No longer.
In a business where it generally sucks to be an employee (except for the NY Post, of course), the “WaPo” as it is known in journalism circles, has really descended into the abyss, On The Money has learned.
Top reporters want out of what they see as crappy new work conditions and possibly more layoffs coming.
It’s a shame, of course. The paper and its journalists – think Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein and their dogged pursuit of Watergate – set the gold standard for reporting. They are the reason so many went into the business, including yours truly.
Sure, Woodward remains at the paper, as do many amazing reporters. But the decline of print as a viable business model, plus the left-ward lurch of a new generation of ink-stained wretch that turns off readers, has decimated readership – and the paper’s balance sheet.
The Post changed hands years ago from the Graham family to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. He’s one of the world’s richest men, but he hates losing money, people who know him tell On The Money. That includes the tens of millions a year he’s sinking into the paper.
Bezos brought in new management this year like publisher Will Lewis, a former WSJ alum (the WSJ and the NY Post share common ownership) to de-woke the place and help it at the very least break even. But it’s either not working or not working well enough to satisfy Bezos’s desire to stop throwing good money after bad, people close to him say
That’s why in addition to financial discipline (some recent layoffs, and possibly more in the future), Lewis is demanding some personal discipline as well.
Since COVID, many reporters have been working from home. Now, the company wants them back in the office five days a week starting next June, according to an internal memo. That might also have the effect of culling staff (and cutting those losses) because reporters who live in the burbs might just quit rather than come back to work in downtown DC.
Resumes have been flying out of the place faster than Trump can say “they’re eating the cats,” these people add.
“Work is tense right now,” said one WaPo reporter. “Everyone is upset that a return-to-office policy is coming. Many don’t live in the area anymore and it’s unclear if they’ll have a job anymore.”
The problem is there aren’t many places to go.
Reporters are finding that they’re getting low-balled on salaries because rivals aren’t doing that much better and they see a distressed trade in the making, the Wall Street equivalent of picking up talent during a firesale.
A WaPo press official had no immediate comment.