Washington Post employees, facing the prospect of sweeping layoffs, have resorted to the unusual tactic of trying to enlist Hollywood celebrities to pressure billionaire owner Jeff Bezos into changing course.
According to the Washington Free Beacon, staffers discussed reaching out to actors Tom Hanks and Meryl Streepwho played legendary Post figures Ben Bradlee and Katharine Graham in the 2017 Steven Spielberg film The Postin hopes that star power might sway Bezos. Hanks had already lent his voice to the papers image, having recorded a Super Bowl commercial touting the outlet under its now-muted slogan, "Democracy Dies in Darkness."
Those efforts appear to have fallen flat. Editors told employees in a Monday meeting that major layoffs were imminent, with as many as 300 positions on the chopping block, particularly on the foreign and sports desks.
The financial strain is already visible in editorial decisions. The paper abruptly scrapped its planned coverage of the upcoming Winter Olympics in Italy, as reported by the New York Times, just weeks before the games are set to begin.
Some of the loudest internal opposition is coming from the Posts international ranks, including Al Jazeera veteran Louisa Loveluck, whose work has drawn criticism for error-ridden, anti-Israel reporting. "As @WashingtonPost international & local correspondents, we have repeatedly risked our lives, side by side, because we believe that clear-eyed reporting from the ground serves the public good," she wrote on X, adding, "To cut off that engine of brave, committed colleagues would be devastating."
The papers union is now openly mobilizing staff against Bezos and his partner Lauren Snchez, urging a social media pressure campaign more reminiscent of activist politics than traditional journalism. "If youre comfortable, please tag Jeff Bezos, Lauren Snchez, sources with large followingsanyone who might be able to amplify our message," the guild wrote in an email obtained by Status.
Inside the newsroom, anxiety has boiled over into despair. "Ive never experienced such a feeling of dread," one staffer told Statuss Oliver Darcy, who described morale as "sinking to a nadir" after speaking with more than a half-dozen current and former employees and reviewing internal Slack messages.
Bezoss stewardship of the paper is now under direct fire from within his own workforce. One former manager blasted his tenure as "a business failure on a colossal level."
Others have gone so far as to pine for Bezoss ex-wife, who has become a progressive mega-donor. "I was just thinking the other day that I wished MacKenzie [Scott] had gotten us in the divorce," one employee wrote on Slack, a remark that underscores how deeply the Posts staff has embraced a culture of dependency on liberal billionaires even as their own benefactor tightens the belt.
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