On Feb 4. 2026, The Washington Post, one of the largest national and international newspapers with over 2 million subscribers and almost 100,000 readers a day, laid off a third of its staff (roughly 300 journalists). It’s no secret that the Post has been struggling since 2024, but these mass cuts of employees have raised concerns, especially about the future of journalism.
The paper’s major decline began in Oct. 2024, when owner Jeff Bezos blocked a planned editorial endorsement of Kamala Harris, ending a 36-year tradition of journalistic political affirmation. This move triggered immediate backlash from left-leaning liberal readers, resulting in 250,000 to 300,000 canceled online subscriptions. These cancellations, along with the blocked patronage, cost the paper over $100 million in 2024 alone.
Bezos defended the decision to end presidential endorsements despite the large number of cancellations as an effort to restore perceived independence and credibility, claiming that endorsements create a perception of bias.
However, many staffers and former editors, such as Marty Baron, characterized the changes as cowardice. They argued that Bezos was trying to avoid conflict with the Trump administration to protect his other business interests, such as Amazon and Blue Origin.
Former CEO of the Washington Post, Will Lewis, spent 2025 attempting a transformation through new tech and business divisions, though they ultimately failed.
The Washington Post’s subscriptions have been faltering since. Further, the immediate precursor to the layoffs was the paper’s decision, just days earlier, to scale back coverage of the 2026 Winter Olympics, signaling to the newsroom that the budget had finally bottomed out.
It was almost expected that their next move would be to start cutting jobs.
There were various perspectives on this decision. Some of the staff and the public believed these cuts would help give the paper a fresh start; others believed it was a betrayal to the paper’s mission.
The Post’s executive editor, Matt Murray, called the move “painful but necessary” to put the paper on a stronger financial footing and to weather changes in user habits.
In recent years, consumption of and trust in media have changed significantly, indirectly affecting The Washington Post. Many people turn toward social media as a major news source, with partisanship becoming a huge factor in readership.
Murray believes that the Post needs to heed to these changes as they become major factors in the Post’s loss of subscribers.
Further, Elle magazine’s deputy editor and former Wingspan alum, Alyssa Bailey, commented on how AI has contributed to the decrease in reader traffic towards publishers, emphasizing the need for publications to reconsider how they bring readers in.
“AI will continue to change the way we consume news, too. I would not be surprised to see smaller staffs across the board, unfortunately. Journalism is still a business,” Bailey said.
On another note, Martin Baron, the Post’s first editor under its current owner, Bezos, condemned his former boss and called what has happened at the newspaper “a case study in near-instant, self-inflicted brand destruction.”
Baron brings up the criticism of leadership failure, another factor leading to its fall. Thus, it gives more background to the resignation of CEO and publisher Will Lewis on Feb. 7, 2026, after only one year in the position.
It’s clear that The Washington Post is in a very fragile position at the moment, and being such an influential paper, there’s no doubt that the uncertainty of journalism’s future has got people worrying.
Wingspan alum, Abby Conrad, currently attends The Pennsylvania State University, majoring in public relations with a minor in creative writing. She explained that the downsizing of the Washington Post could have a potentially detrimental effect on journalism in schools, especially if this sets a precedent for other publications.
“The less people see journalism as a legitimate, valuable profession, the less students will seek it out and view it as a real career option, which only hurts the future of the press in America,” Conrad said.
Conrad further described how journalism is being restricted due to the political tension in today’s society.
“It’s extremely disheartening to see journalism, which is so uniquely American in that it’s supposed to be free of censorship and unbiased, be degraded and beaten down by the same people who took an oath to protect it,” Conrad emphasized.
Additionally, many journalistic outlets have faced interference and pressure politically. Conrad depicted how journalism within the past year has been especially heartbreaking to watch.
“We’ve seen journalism restricted in ways that have honestly been scary. Although it’s not technically categorized as journalism, I think everyone really woke up when Jimmy Kimmel’s show got pulled, and that’s just one example of how the freedom of the press is plummeting.”
Looking from a collegiate perspective, Izzy Mackey, also a Penn State student majoring in journalism, describes the importance of keeping journalism in schools even through the polarization in our society.
“I’m really hoping that journalism can still stay intact, but I do have a fear that more publications will follow the Washington Post, especially when the government and president do not support journalism,” Mackey said.
Despite these disheartening feelings about journalism throughout the past year and regarding the future of journalism, both Conrad and Bailey ended on a positive note.
“We have to remember that knowledge truly is power and that everyone deserves access to the truth. If we can do that, I have no doubt that journalism will be okay, but I’d be remiss to say if I wasn’t concerned right now,” Conrad noted.
“Real journalism, the kind that gets to the bottom of things and values the pursuit of truth, matters more than ever,” Bailey concluded.
