Washington Post publisher Fred Ryan announced that there would be coming layoffs at the Washington Post – he refused to take questions.
Washington Post staffers were outraged on Wednesday when publisher Fred Ryan refused to take questions after announcing looming layoffs during a town hall event for employees of the “Democracy Dies in Darkness” paper.
Ryan, who serves as the chief executive for billionaire Jeff Bezos’ newspaper, shut down inquiries after reportedly informing staffers that there would be layoffs during the first quarter of 2023.
“We’re not going to turn the town hall into a grievance session with the Guild,” Ryan can be heard telling upset staffers seeking answers after he announced layoffs in a video shared by Post reporter Annie Gowen.
The Post has lost 500K subscribers since Biden took office.
Former president Donald Trump often said he was “the best thing to ever happen” to the Washington Post and other mainstream news outlets.
He was right.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the Jeff Bezos-owned publication has lost 500,000 subscribers since Trump left office in January 2021, which amounts to a decline of roughly 20 percent. The Post is on track to lose money in 2022 after years of profitability. The New York Times reported in August that the Post‘s business has “stalled” since President Joe Biden was sworn in, and layoffs are being discussed amid management’s frustration with “numerous low performers in the newsroom.”
Donald Trump reacted to the news by wondering if the Washington Post was in shutdown mode.
In a statement on Truth Social, Trump called the layoffs “not a good look” for the Washington Post.
