New Delhi: The Washington Post announced large-scale layoffs on Wednesday, cutting about one-third of its staff, including more than 300 newsroom employees. At the centre of the controversy is Jeff Bezos, the Amazon founder and owner of the Post, whose personal fortune according to Forbes is $246.3 billion.
Major layoffs despite wealthy ownership
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, one of the world’s richest men, acquired The Washington Post in 2013 for approximately $250 million. At the time the move was welcomed by many in the industry, hoping that the deep pockets of the Amazon founder would help provide long-term stability and massive resources to the paper.
Cut to now, things seem to have fared differently. Bezos’s personal wealth today according to Forbes is estimated at nearly $250 billion. It has continued to grow while the fortunes of the Post have continued to dwindle. This disparity is what has ignited the barrage of criticism against Bezos and the huge layoff the Post is witnessing.
As reported by CNN, the layoffs affected almost every corner of the paper, including international and local reporting teams, the sports desk, and the Books section. Executives described the cuts as a “strategic reset” aimed at focusing on areas the paper believes will have the greatest impact, such as politics, national affairs, and security reporting. Executive Editor Matt Murray said the cuts were part of an effort to adapt the Post to “challenging and disappointing realities” in the media industry.
Criticisms inbound
While some see the layoffs as part of the larger ills currently affecting the media industry, yet for Bezos, one of the richest men in the world to retreat from the mission he once seemed to champion when he purchased the newspaper seems questionable. Some detractors also claim that the decline in subscriber trust follows some controversial editorial decisions taken under Bezos.
As a result many prominent US citizens, politicians and media personalities have criticised the move. US Senator Elizabeth Warren criticised the decision on social media saying, “Jeff Bezos just fired hundreds of reporters at the Washington Post — including the Amazon reporter holding his OWN company accountable. Reminder: Jeff Bezos’ net worth is nearly $250,000,000,000.” Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez added, “When Jeff Bezos bought WaPo, he immediately took control of the opinions section. Now, he’s laying off hundreds of journalists, including those covering Amazon. This isn’t a coincidence. It’s the result of billionaires with vested political agendas taking over our media.”
A prominent critic of big business intervention in politics and media, senator Bernie Sanders also criticised Bezos and the Post’s mass layoffs. “If Jeff Bezos could afford to spend $75 million on the Melania movie and $500 million for a yacht to sail off to his $55 million wedding to give his wife a $5 million ring, please don’t tell me he needed to fire one‑third of The Washington Post staff,” Sanders wrote on X. He ended the post with a blunt refrain: “Democracy dies in oligarchy.”