Washington Post Cuts One-Third of Newsroom, Ends Sports Section

The Washington Post today laid off roughly one-third of its newsroom staff in a sweeping round of cuts ordered by owner Jeff Bezos, touching nearly every department. Executive Editor Matt Murray told staff on a Zoom call that the move represents a strategic reset, saying the paper needs to realign to compete in the era of artificial intelligence after years of what he called delayed change and difficult financial realities.

The Post Is also ending its sports section. Some sports journalists will remain on staff, but their roles will shift toward feature writing and broader enterprise stories rather than game coverage, beat reporting, or traditional sports section production.

Beyond sports, the restructuring reduces the paper’s national and international footprint. The Books section is being closed, the Post Reports podcast is suspended, and the international desk is being dramatically scaled back, including the elimination of the Middle East desk and senior roles covering Ukraine. The Metro desk will also be downsized significantly, with staffing reportedly dropping from more than 40 to about a dozen. More from AP.