Hundreds of Washington Post employees sent a letter to owner Jeff Bezos on Wednesday, urging the billionaire to meet with staffers to improve internal confidence.
The letter asserts that many at the paper deeply disagree with decisions made by upper management over the past year. However, the staffers wrote that Mr. Bezos has a chance to restore trust in the newsroom.
“We believe you take as much pride in The Washington Post as we do,” the letter reads. “This goes far beyond the issue of the presidential endorsement, which we recognize as the owner’s prerogative. This is about retaining our competitive edge, restoring trust that has been lost, and reestablishing a relationship with leadership based on open communication.”
According to the letter, signed by leading editors and rank-and-file newsroom workers, a string of bad decisions have eroded public trust in The Post and led to high-profile departures.
“We are deeply alarmed by recent leadership decisions that have led readers to question the integrity of this institution, broken with a tradition of transparency, and prompted some of our most distinguished colleagues to leave with more departures imminent,” the letter reads.
The Post couldn’t be reached for comment.
The letter comes after the paper announced this month it would cut around 4% of its staff. The cuts affected under 100 staffers across various departments. The Post said the cuts were made to ensure the paper could better meet the needs of its readers.
The layoffs came after internal conflicts inflated tension the past few months, including the paper’s decision not to endorse any candidate for president after decades of The Post backing a Democrat. That call was met with 250,000 readers canceling their Post subscriptions.
Mr. Bezos said a presidential endorsement would only hurt reader trust.
• Vaughn Cockayne can be reached at vcockayne@washingtontimes.com.
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