By Alexandra Bruell

The Washington Post is cutting its staff, slashing jobs in the newsroom in an effort to trim costs and reshape coverage, according to a recording of a staff meeting announcing the changes reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

The layoffs were described as a "broad strategic reset" by Executive Editor Matt Murray. The cuts announced to the newsroom Wednesday will reshape the paper's coverage of core subjects, including sports and foreign news.

The Post is closing its sports department in its current form but will retain some roles in that coverage area and is shrinking its international coverage, according to the recording. It will focus on national news and features, investigations and advice on health and wellness topics.

Among the changes, the company will restructure its metro section, creating beats focused on coverage for local print subscribers. Murray also said the Post will close its Books section and suspend its Post Reports podcast.

"Frankly for too long we've operated with a structure too rooted in the days when we were a quasi-monopoly local newspaper," Murray said on the call. "Over the years, we simply haven't evolved our model or many operations and processes as much as we should have and we even missed out on some opportunities."

The Post didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Write to Alexandra Bruell at alexandra.bruell@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 04, 2026 09:34 ET (14:34 GMT)

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