‘#SavethePost’: Washington Post Reporters Directly Appeal to Jeff Bezos Amid Reports the Paper Is Being Gutted

(AP Photo/John Locher, File)

A number of Washington Post journalists are appealing to owner Jeff Bezos to step in and “save” the paper on Monday amid reports “massive layoffs” are about to decimate a huge chunk of the newsroom.

The hashtag #SavethePost has been used by several WaPo reporters who are making their case for why the Amazon founder should cancel the looming job cuts.

Those reporters are calling on Bezos after Puck’s Dylan Byers reported last weekend that “hundreds” of WaPo employees are going to be fired soon. Byers reported the sports department is going to be shuttered and that the foreign desk is going to be “hit hard too.”

Status had a similar report on Sunday night, and ex-Washington Post writer Paul Farhi said on Monday he was told up to “half” of the Post’s newsroom will be cut.

“Sickening,” he added.

With that as a backdrop, WaPo reporters started using their hashtag to urge Bezos to change his mind — or the minds of his editors making the hiring/firing decisions at WaPo.

Mexico bureau chief Samantha Schmidt said the paper’s international reporters “risk our safety to investigate authoritarian governments” and that their “on-the-ground reporting is more critical than ever.”

Foreign correspondent Loveday Morris said a source told her she could have been “killed” for her reporting, but that was just an “average day” in her role.

Ukrainian bureau chief Siobhan O’Grady tagged Bezos on X and said her team will “never forget” his support documenting the Russia-Ukraine War. “Please believe in us and #SavethePost” she urged.

International security correspondent Souad Mekhennet and Turkish correspondent Yeganeh Torbati similarly tagged Bezos and explained why their work is vital.

Global economics correspondent David J. Lynch said his paper has one of the last “robust” foreign reporting staffs.

“Eliminating it to save money would come at the cost of an informed citizenry, something that has never been more important,” he said.

And Ukraine correspondent Lizzie Johnson tagged Bezos and said she loved her job, despite putting her “life on the line” on a daily basis.

Their social media campaign comes a few weeks after WaPo reporters rallied in support of colleague Hannah Natanson after the FBI searched her Virginia home and seized several of her devices as part of an investigation into the alleged mishandling of classified information.

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