Washington Post Reporters Face Mass Firings

As some may know, the chief executive of Jeff Bezos’ Washington Post led a meeting last month in which he told an upset group of staff members that a significant percentage of them would soon no longer be working at the outlet.

Fred Ryan, the company’s CEO and publisher, said the firings would occur during the first quarter of 2023.

Recordings of exchanges between Ryan and agitated staff were posted to Twitter by the Wahington Post Guild.

Now, a letter has been sent out informing employees of the Post that 20 newsroom positions will soon be cut and that 30 previously open positions will no longer be filled.

Washington Post reporter Katie Mettler posted her grievances about the firings online. “The Washington Post has started laying off my friends and colleagues. It’s wrong and unnecessary and did not need to happen,” she began. “I’m sad and mad and so disappointed in this institution that I care about so deeply. We’re better than this.”

Mettler additionally changed her Twitter profile banner to one that calls for a “diverse, inclusive, and fair Washington Post.”

PJ Media journalist Megan Fox appeared to make fun of Mettler for the display, questioning why she does not instead leave the company out of protest.

“Why doesn’t @kemettler resign in protest?” Fox asked. “Quit Katie! That’ll show ’em! If your employer is so unfair, why do you want to keep working for them?”

Fox referred to Mettler’s posted banner as a “hilarious virtue signal.”

Washington Post additionally decided to close Launcher, a program intended to create what IGN described as “excellent reporting in games media.”

A user reacted to the news, writing, “First time I heard about it.”

This closing resulted in the firing of video games journalist Shannon Liao, a reporter who has an LGBT flag and “she/her” pronouns posted in her Twitter bio, as well as a few others.

 

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