(WatchDogReport.org) – Americans have been losing faith in the mainstream media for years, and that’s starting to hurt outlets as viewers and newspaper subscriptions decline. Now, even leading outlets are feeling the pain. The Washington Post is the latest to start cutting costs — and staff — as reality bites.
In statement, WaPo's chief spokesperson @@kathymbaird confirms "a number of positions will be eliminated," resulting in a single digit cut to its workforce.
"This will not be a net reduction in Post headcount," Baird adds, saying the paper will invest in certain areas in 2023. pic.twitter.com/dA05Vj8gR8
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) December 14, 2022
On December 14, staff at the Post turned up for a town hall meeting, only to be told that an unspecified number of them would be losing their jobs. After publisher and CEO Fred Ryan made the announcement, he then poured gas on the flames by refusing to answer questions, saying he wasn’t going to turn the meeting into a “grievance session.” The staff didn’t appreciate that at all, and the audience erupted into a chorus of complaints and furious questions (which didn’t get answered).
The newspaper’s chief spokesperson, Kathy Baird, released a statement later the same day, which revealed the planned layoffs would be “a single digit percentage” of staff. But with a workforce of 2,500 people, that could still mean hundreds of lost jobs. Employees say the mood at the newspaper is now “really grim.” Last month, the Post canceled its Sunday magazine and let the team that worked on it go; that had already put a big dent in morale, and the latest announcement has pushed it down even more.
The Post isn’t the only media outlet that’s cutting back. At the end of November, CNN also announced layoffs, sparking similar anger from staff. Of course, it’s always sad when people lose their jobs, but liberal journalists don’t seem to understand that if they don’t produce what people want, it isn’t going to sell. The mainstream media has been steering left for years, and now it’s gone too far. “Go woke, go broke” has struck again.
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