The Washington Post is making sweeping job cuts to its newsroom, scaling back foreign coverage and shutting down some sections of the paper.
Executive editor Matt Murray announced the layoffs during a Zoom call with employees on Wednesday. The New York Times reported that hundreds of journalists would be impacted.
Barry Svrluga, a sports columnist at the Post, said on social media the media outlet plans to close its sports department in its "current form," citing comments made by Murray during Wednesday's call. The Post also plans to shrink the number of journalists it stations overseas.
A spokesperson for the newspaper didn't immediately reply to a request for comment.
The announcement follows days of speculation that the company, which is owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, was planning to make cuts to its foreign, sports and local desks.
Amid media reports about the planned layoffs, some Washington Post reporters last month sent letters to owner Jeff Bezos pleading with the billionaire and Amazon founder not to cut any jobs.
"Cutting this deeply sourced, battle-hardened and tireless staff would hinder The Post's ability to respond to the biggest news developments on the horizon," the Post's foreign correspondents said in their letter, which was posted on social media.
"Don't eliminate our jobs," reporters from the Post's local desk said in their missive to Bezos. "Keep the Washington Post a place that covers Washington."
Bezos bought The Washington Post in 2013 for $250 million amid a declining readership and other budgetary challenges.
At the time, he promised employees that the paper would follow in the footsteps of its late publisher, Katharine Graham, in pursuing the truth and following important stories, "no matter the cost."
