The Washington Post Cut a Third of Its Staff and Blamed Search, Not Subscriptions

Mon, 24 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

In February the Post eliminated roughly a third of its workforce, including more than three hundred of about eight hundred newsroom positions. Sports, books, podcasts, foreign, and national desks were gutted. The executive editor told staff the decision was driven in large part by the collapse of organic search traffic, down nearly half in three years.

That explanation deserves more attention than it received, because it is not the usual one.

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The Washington Post Cut a Third of Its Staff and Blamed Search, Not Subscriptions