Washington Post layoffs deepen western media retreat from global reporting
Washington Post layoffs deepen western media retreat from global reporting Submitted by MEE staff on Wed, 02/04/2026 - 19:48 Layoffs gut international desks as journalists warn of shrinking footprint in Global South The headquarters of The Washington Post is seen on K Street in Washington DC, on 16 May 2019 (Eric Baradat/AFP) Off The Washington Post’s announcement on Wednesday to lay off more than 300 journalists is being viewed by many as part of a broader contraction in western media, one that is hollowing out international reporting at a moment of unprecedented global crises. The layoffs, which will cut roughly 30 percent of the paper’s workforce, have disproportionately wiped out the paper's Asia and Middle East coverage, eliminating bureau chiefs, regional editors, and nearly all on-the-ground correspondents across the two regions. Journalists say the cuts effectively end the paper’s ability to report independently from much of the Global South. Evan Feigenbaum, a renowned Asia expert and advisor to former US secretaries of state, said in a post on social media, “The world is becoming less America-centric by the minute while the United States is becoming more America-centric than ever.” The @WashPost has now laid off its Asia editor, its New Delhi bureau chief, its Sydney bureau chief, its Cairo bureau chief, the entire Middle East reporting team, China correspondents, Iran correspondents, Turkey correspondents, and many more. The world is becoming less… — Evan A. Feigenbaum (@EvanFeigenbaum) February 4, 2026 Among those affected by the layoffs are the paper’s Asia editor, bureau chiefs in New Delhi, Sydney, and Cairo, and correspondents covering China, Iran, Turkey, and the wider Middle East, according to testimonies by laid-off journalists and commentators online. Media workers say the layoffs amount to a strategic retreat from international journalism, narrowing the range of voices, perspectives, and firsthand reporting available to western audiences. Many Washington Post journalists took to social media to announce their layoffs, saying they were heartbroken and disappointed. I'm heartbroken to announce that I've been laid off from my position at The Washington Post. Working at this newspaper, and especially being a foreign correspondent covering Iran and Turkey over the last few short months, was a dream come true for me. — Yeganeh Torbati (@yjtorbati) February 4, 2026 According to a report by The New York Times about the layoffs, Peter Finn, international editor at The Washington Post, requested that he be laid off rather than be involved in planning the cuts once he learned about their massive scope, according to two people with knowledge of his decision. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Reporting shrinks as access is blocked The cuts come as foreign journalists remain barred from entering Gaza, forcing global outlets to rely almost entirely on Palestinian reporters working under siege, bombardment, and extreme risk. Since the 7 October 2023 Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel, Gaza has been under continuous assault, with Israel killing journalists on the ground and barring international ones from the wartorn enclave. The war on Gaza has been recognised as a genocide by the United Nations, scholars and world leaders. Over 71,800 Palestinians have been killed to date. Media analysts and journalists warn that the dismantling of international desks, combined with restricted access to conflict zones, has left large swaths of the world effectively unreported or filtered through distant newsrooms. One critic of The Washington Post's layoffs said they did not understand how the layoffs aligned with making the paper "urgently relevant". At a moment of incredible tumult & danger & change in the Middle East — where US gov’t & military action will be key shaping force, the Washington Post lays off its entire Mideast reporting staff. Hard to see how this aligns w a strategy of making paper more urgently relevant. https://t.co/zOBPOZyYu7 — (((Charles Fishman))) 💧 (@cfishman) February 4, 2026 The New York Times reported that The Washington Post’s executive editor, Matt Murray, told staff the paper had lost too much money for too long and was no longer meeting readers’ needs, saying it had remained “too rooted in a different era”. He also pointed to falling online search traffic, which he said had nearly halved over three years, partly due to the rise of generative AI. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); But critics argue that shrinking global coverage in response to financial pressure risks accelerating a cycle in which audiences receive less international news, become less engaged, and further weaken the case for foreign reporting. The @washingtonpost just let go of every single journalist working on the #MiddleEast. What a stunning, absolutely incomprehensible decision. I hope they all get snapped up fast by the Post's competitors. — Charles Lister (@Charles_Lister) February 4, 2026 Over the past couple of weeks, many Washington Post reporters have put out statements with the hashtag #SavethePost amid rumours of layoffs of on-the-ground reporters, which have now materialised. Louisa Loveluck, a reporter covering major cities of the Middle East such as Baghdad, Beirut and Cairo, wrote on X, “clear-eyed reporting from the ground serves the public good. To cut off that engine of brave, committed colleagues would be devastating.” Loveluck, like many other reporters who shared the call to #SavethePost on X, has also been laid off by the paper. Many journalists online, as well as those who work for The Washington Post, shared former Washington Post editor Marty Baron’s statement on the layoffs, which implied there was a more political element to the gutting of the paper. “The owner, in a note to readers, wrote that he aimed to boost trust in The Post. The effect was something else entirely: Subscribers lost trust in his stewardship and, notwithstanding the newsroom’s stellar journalism, The Post overall. Bezos’s sickening efforts to curry favour with President Trump have left an especially ugly stain of their own. This is a case study in near-instant, self-inflicted brand destruction.” (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Online, calls for journalists who were laid off by The Washington Post to come and contribute to other news outlets surged. Global affairs columnist Ishaan Tharoor was laid off in Wednesday's move. His column had amassed over one million subscribers in the past couple of years. 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… — Ishaan Tharoor (@ishaantharoor) February 4, 2026 The Washington Post’s layoffs follow years of newsroom cuts across major US and European outlets, even as governments increasingly restrict press access, criminalise reporting, and exert pressure on journalists. From conflict zones to immigration detention centres and protest movements, reporters face growing obstacles, while news organisations scale back the very teams equipped to cover them. Media workers warn that the combination of economic retrenchment, political pressure, and restricted access is reshaping journalism, moving it away from sustained, on-the-ground reporting and toward narrower, domestically focused narratives. US Politics Trending Post Date Override 0 Update Date Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:29 Update Date Override 0