Washington Post laid off one-third of its staff on February 4, 2026, closing sports section, several foreign bureaus and books coverage.
Ishaan Tharoor, son of Shashi Tharoor and WorldView columnist, was laid off after nearly 12 years and described the day as “heartbroken” and “a bad day.”
Cuts follow subscriber losses tied to Jeff Bezos decisions, including no 2024 election endorsement and opinion page shifts; editor called them painful but necessary.
The Washington Post laid off one-third of its staff on Wednesday, eliminating its sports section, several foreign bureaus, and books coverage in a major restructuring that has drawn sombre reactions from affected employees, including Ishaan Tharoor, son of Congress MP Shashi Tharoor.
The cuts affected virtually every department in the newsroom and represented a significant reduction in the newspaper's international and specialised reporting capacity.
Ishaan Tharoor, a senior international affairs columnist who launched the WorldView column in 2017 to help readers understand global affairs and America's role in them, posted on X that he had been laid off along with most of the international staff and many other colleagues.
"I have been laid off today from the @washingtonpost, along with most of the International staff and so many other wonderful colleagues. I'm heartbroken for our newsroom and especially for the peerless journalists who served the Post internationally--editors and correspondents who have been my friends and collaborators for almost 12 years. It’s been an honour to work with them," he wrote.
He added that launching the WorldView column had been an honour and thanked the half a million loyal subscribers who followed his work.
In a separate post, Mr. Tharoor described the day as “A bad day,” and shared a picture of an empty newsroom.
The rumours of layoffs had circulated for weeks, particularly after sports reporters expecting to cover the Winter Olympics in Italy were told they would not travel. The scale of the cuts, however, surprised many when announced.
Executive editor Matt Murray described the changes as painful but necessary to strengthen the outlet's position amid shifts in technology and user habits. “We can’t be everything to everyone,” he said in a note to staff.
The newspaper has faced subscriber losses, linked in part to decisions under owner Jeff Bezos, including the withdrawal of an endorsement for Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election against Donald Trump and a shift toward more conservative positions on liberal opinion pages.
The layoffs have been described as one of the most sweeping purges at the publication, impacting its legacy as a major news organisation.
(With inputs from The Hindu)
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