The New Yorker:

After a decade of growth, the paper is laying off staff and was reportedly on track to lose money last year. Its publisher and C.E.O. says it’s all part of a bold strategy.

By Clare Malone

At a December town hall at the offices of the Washington Post, just a few blocks from the White House, the paper’s publisher and C.E.O., Fred Ryan, announced that a round of layoffs would be coming early in the new year. The news came at the end of a meeting featuring what the Post’s media critic called “upbeat presentations on bold initiatives,” such as a revamped climate desk. The mood among the assembled journalists, however, was hardly upbeat. Two weeks earlier, the paper had announced the closure of its Sunday magazine, whose ten staff members were told that while they were taking severance they would be ineligible to apply for other jobs in the newsroom. Now Ryan’s talk of additional layoffs was met with a flurry of questions. “We’re not going to turn the town hall into a grievance session for the guild,” Ryan said, referring to the newsroom’s union, the Washington Post Guild. Someone responded, “It’s not a grievance session—it’s questions.” Ryan, lanky, white-haired, and besuited, abruptly strode out. A video of the confrontation, which has been viewed three million times, swiftly made the rounds. “That video was a very rare window into Fred when he gets frustrated,” Robert Allbritton, who, along with Ryan, was a co-founder of Politico, said. “I guarantee you he walked off that stage and said, ‘Oh, shit.’ ”

On Tuesday morning, Sally Buzbee, the Post’s executive editor, sent an e-mail to staff informing them that the paper was cutting twenty positions and will not fill thirty open positions. The layoffs spanned the newsroom, affecting reporters, editors, copy editors, and visual journalists, in particular hitting the copy desk, and closing KidsPost and Launcher, the paper’s online gaming vertical. “This was an unforced error made by our publisher with no clear plan or business strategy,” an e-mail that the guild sent to its members read. “Fred Ryan is punishing the newsroom’s hardworking, award-winning and nimble journalists for his failures as publisher.” 

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