Delhi bureau chief among 300 journalists fired by Washington Post; foreign, sports, culture coverage cut

Ukraine bureau chief, Middle East reporters also among those laid off as the Jeff Bezos-owned paper attempts to reinvent and restructure itself.

There were roughly 800 journalists at The Washington Post before the current round of layoffs | Photo: Reuters

New Delhi: The Washington Post Wednesday laid off 300 staff, roughly a third of its newsroom, including almost all of its international correspondents, the New Delhi Bureau chief and those covering the Middle East/West Asia, China, Türkiye and Iran.

The Post’s New Delhi Bureau Chief Pranshu Verma announced on the social media platform X that he had been laid off. Verma had held the post for roughly seven months.

“Heartbroken to share I’ve been laid off from the Washington Post. Gutted for so many of my talented friends who are also gone. It was a privilege to work here the past four years. Serving as the paper’s New Delhi bureau chief was an honor,” he posted.

Heartbroken to share I've been laid off from The Washington Post. Gutted for so many of my talented friends who are also gone. It was a privilege to work here the past four years. Serving as the paper's New Delhi bureau chief was an honor.

— Pranshu Verma (@pranshuverma_) February 4, 2026

Gerry Shih, the previous New Delhi bureau chief for The Post, who was later transferred to the Jerusalem bureau as chief also announced that he had been laid off, along with most of the paper’s Middle East reporters.

It was a privilege to be a Post correspondent, roaming the world the last 7+ years for a paper I very much believed in. I'm gone along with the rest of the ME team and majority of teammates from Delhi to Beijing to Kyiv & Latam. Sad day, but it was a lot of fun and we raised hell

— Gerry Shih (@gerryshih) February 4, 2026

The Post also announced the closure of its sports desk, and its largest bureau outside of Washington DC–the Ukraine bureau. Siobhan O’Grady, Ukraine Bureau Chief, announced her lay off from The Post on X. The American newspaper had a number of journalists covering the war in Ukraine over the last four years.

Ishaan Tharoor, The Post’s international affairs columnist and son of MP Shashi Tharoor, was among those laid off.

I have been laid off today from the @washingtonpost, along with most of the International staff and so many other wonderful colleagues. I’m heartbroken for our newsroom and especially for the peerless journalists who served the Post internationally — editors and correspondents…

— Ishaan Tharoor (@ishaantharoor) February 4, 2026

The move comes as the newspaper looks to reinvent itself for a modern era, according to Executive Editor Matt Murray. It has also ended its coverage of sports and shut down its books section.

“As we shared in our live stream earlier, the company is taking actions today to place The Washington Post on a stronger footing and better position us in this rapidly changing era of new technologies and evolving user habits. These moves include substantial newsroom reductions impacting nearly all news departments,” Murray said in a communication to employees, as posted on X. 

“For the immediate future, we will concentrate on areas that demonstrate authority, distinctiveness, and impact and that resonate with readers: politics, national affairs, people, power and trends; national security in DC and abroad; forces shaping the future, including science, health, medicine, technology, climate, and business; journalism that empowers people to take action, from advice to wellness; revelatory investigations; and what’s capturing attention in culture, online, and in daily life.”

The Post is owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos since 2013. Bezos, also the owner of Amazon and space tech company Blue Origin, had bought The Post from longtime publishers the Graham family for around $250 million.

A look at The Post

The paper is one of the largest in the US, with nearly 100,000 copies in print and a large digital subscriber base. However, it has faced a number of challenges in recent years, in particular starting with its reorganisation under incumbent publisher William Lewis in 2024. Lewis’ attempt to split the newsroom into core and service sections in 2024 led to the exit of then Executive Editor Sally Buzbee, and the hiring of Murray.

The Post is reported to have lost $70 million in 2023, according to The New York Times. The newspaper further decided in 2024 to withhold its traditional endorsement of presidential candidates, leading to cancellation of subscriptions. It is reported to have prepared a draft endorsement for Democratic candidate and then US Vice President Kamala Harris. However, Donald Trump won the presidential election.

The paper famously broke the story surrounding the Watergate break-in in the 1970s that led to the resignation of then US President Richard M. Nixon in 1974. Then led by Katherine Graham, the first female publisher of a major American newspaper in the 20th Century, The Post grew to have an extensive international presence.

In recent years, its New Delhi Bureau worked on stories covering everything from domestic Indian politics to breaking a number of stories with regards to down-turn in India-Canada ties.

There were roughly 800 journalists with The Post before the current round of layoffs. The Washington Post Company, which published the newspaper between 1933 and 2013, led by Katherine Graham and later her son, had originally bought the paper during a bankruptcy auction.

“We have concluded that the company’s structure is too rooted in a different era, when we were a dominant, local print product. This restructure will help to secure our future in service of our journalistic mission and provide us stability moving forward,” Murray said to The Post employees.

“We can’t be everything to everyone. But we must be indispensable where we compete. That means continually asking why a story matters, who it serves and how it gives people a clearer understanding of the world and an advantage in navigating it.”

The mass layoffs at The Post have led to strong reactions from American media houses.

The New York Times, in its coverage, highlighted that Bezos “has not yet figured out how to build and maintain a profitable publication on the internet”. The founder of Amazon is reported to be worth over $250 billion.

(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)