A report from archrival New York Times claims that the Bezos-owned newspaper is losing money.
The Washington Post is in a financial downward spiral, according to the paper’s archrival, the New York Times, which analyzed its competitor’s fortunes in a report published on Tuesday. Not only is the Post on track to lose money in 2022 after “Years of profit,” but it may have to lay off as much as 10% of its newsroom staff, the exposé claims.
Without President Donald Trump’s traffic, The Post is losing readers online. In fact, its digital subscriptions have fallen below 3 million. This reverses the gains of two years. Meanwhile, digital ad revenues are down by 15% over the previous year’s numbers, according to an internal financial document seen by the Times.
Insiders claim that as many as 100 newsroom workers could be let go as a result of tightening belts, according to sources. These claims are based on statements Fred Ryan, CEO, made to newsroom leaders. This would represent 10% of all newsroom employees. While this might be accomplished via a hiring freeze rather than outright layoffs, Ryan is reportedly fed up with “Unproductive” employees who work from home instead of commuting.
A Post spokeswoman denied reductions were coming, claiming that not only was the paper not cutting back but that it was actually hiring more staffers and “Explore positions that could be used to reach a wider, more national or global audience..” The Post’s financial situation was not nearly as dire as the internal documents seen by the Times made it out to be, she argued. Sally Buzbee, editor of the Post, supported her claim and claimed that 150 new positions were being created in the newsroom.
Buzbee acknowledged that the paper needed to “We can offer many different services to our customers.,” and the spokeswoman noted that it was opening new international news hubs, focusing on attracting younger readers and partnering with Hollywood studio Imagine Entertainment, and would surely “This work will bring you both advertising and consumer revenue in the following year..”
She denied that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos was losing interest in the Post, which he bought in 2013 for $250m.
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Record-breaking numbers of Americans have quit their jobs.
Despite fiscal woes the Post appears to be full of dreams. According to five sources, executives were rumored as having discussed the acquisition of rivals such as The Guardian, The Associated Press and The Economist. The paper’s Strategic Review Team suggested a major overseas purchase would be an easy way to achieve the CEO’s stated goal of becoming “The definitive news source for English-speaking people.”
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