‘I’m Devastated’: Washington Post Foreign Correspondent Reveals She Was Fired ‘in the Middle of a War Zone’

(Alex Brandon/AP photo)
Washington Post correspondent Lizzie Johnson announced on X that she was “devastated” after being laid off in the middle of a war zone.
“I was just laid off by The Washington Post in the middle of a warzone. I have no words. I’m devastated,” she wrote on Wednesday.
The post was in response to another in which Johnson talked about not running having running water and heat while covering the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
“Waking up without power, heat, or running water. (Again.) But the work here in Kyiv continues. Warming up in the car, writing in pencil — pen ink freezes — by headlamp. Despite how difficult this job can be, I am proud to be a foreign correspondent at The Washington Post,” she wrote.
The Washington Post, owned by Jeff Bezos, laid off about 300 workers this week in a major scaling back in areas like foreign news and sports.
Executive editor Matt Murray reportedly told staff that online traffic had taken a major hit in recent years and that the paper needed to expand its perspective.
“Even as we produce much excellent work, we too often write from one perspective, for one slice of the audience,” he said.
The Washington Post Guild blasted the decision.
“Continuing to eliminate workers only stands to weaken the newspaper, drive away readers and undercut The Post’s mission,” they said in a statement.
Among the sweeping new changes, the paper has shuttered its sports desk, books section, and a podcast.
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