Earlier this month, I was one of a great number of people laid off from The Washington Post. This strategy has become essential in the dwindling newspaper industry, given steep declines in revenue from print advertising. Even more important than retaining loyalists, as the Post’s recent history proves, is not deliberately antagonizing them or your own talent. Maybe I’m in a bubble, conditions have irrevocably changed, and criticism, in the eyes of a mass audience, is dead. I don’t think readers are wrong, or that certain trends aren’t real; I think that important guardians of the media often misunderstand them.

Source: Washington Post February 21, 2026 00:44 UTC