"Journalism Deserves Better": Ex-Washington Post Staffers Slam Billionaire Bezos for Gutting Paper

The Washington Post has laid off more than 300 journalists, dismantling its sports, local news and international coverage. "Everybody is grieving, and it's a loss for our readers," says Nilo Tabrizy, one of the paper's recently laid-off staff, who describes a "robotic" meeting announcing the cuts. "They didn't have the dignity to look us in the eye." The shocking staff culling has been widely attributed to the paper's leadership under Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who bought the nearly 150-year-old institution in 2013. Karen Attiah, the former global opinion editor at the Post, was hired soon after Bezos's arrival. She recounts how the arrival of a billionaire backer initially revitalized the paper with resources and creative freedom, before souring over the next decade.