One day after the Washington Post laid off roughly a third of its newsroom, former staff and supporters gathered outside the paper鈥檚 Downtown D.C. headquarters to protest the cuts.
Former transportation reporter Rachel Weiner, who spent 15 years at the Post, told the large crowd she was struggling with the loss of her job and what it meant for the community.
鈥淵eah, I鈥檓 sad about it obviously,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t is really disappointing having worked to cover as much as possible in this region because it鈥檚 also important. The Post has just decided it doesn鈥檛 matter to them.”
Weiner said this round of cuts was handled differently from past layoffs.
鈥淭hey did something they haven鈥檛 done in previous layoffs and buyouts, which is you lock us out of the building and the systems immediately and not let us finish anything we were working on,鈥� Weiner said.
The rally was organized by the Post 91欧美激情 Guild and the Post Tech Guild unions. The crowd listened as journalists and tech workers described the impact of losing hundreds of colleagues.
D.C. communities reporter Michael Brice-Saddler told the rally the Metro section staff could no longer adequately serve the region.
鈥淗ow is the Metro desk supposed to earn the community’s trust if you keep taking resources away from the Metro section of this paper?鈥� he said.
The newspaper also eliminated its entire sports department.
Speaking for her colleagues, former sports reporter Molly Hensley鈥慍lancy said the loss of the desk was both 鈥渉eartbreaking鈥� and 鈥渟enseless.鈥�
鈥淭here鈥檚 nothing as riveting as sports, and there鈥檚 nothing that brings all of America together like sports,鈥� she said.
She continued, 鈥淭here is simply is no Washington Post without sports.鈥�
Former enterprise reporter Marissa J. Lang, who was also laid off, said the full impact of losing so many journalists will ripple far beyond the newsroom.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think we know yet the impact of losing 300 journalists who hold power to account,鈥� she told the crowd. 鈥淚 know that the region and the country and the world is a worse place today for having lost all of these incredible reporters.”
The rally also drew former staff who were not part of this week鈥檚 layoffs but came to support their colleagues. Among them was Kathryn Tolbert, who worked at the paper for 27 years before retiring a few years ago.
鈥淚t鈥檚 heartbreaking the way the heart and soul of the paper are being torn apart,鈥� Tolbert said. “This feels different in a really fundamental way.”
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