Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

'The mood is really grim': Washington Post staffers livid at publisher Fred Ryan after layoff announcement
CNN via FOX 55 ^ | December 15, 2022 | Oliver Darcy, CNN Business

Posted on 12/15/2022 1:02:19 PM PST by John W

Staffers at The Washington Post are livid at publisher Fred Ryan.

That's according to conversations I had on Wednesday with nearly a dozen employees at The Post who expressed fury at the way Ryan announced in a town hall that the company would undergo layoffs in early 2023. Ryan said that the layoffs would only amount to a single-digit percentage of the workforce and that the overall size of the company would not shrink, given there would be reinvestments in other areas. But none of that quelled outrage from staffers.

The staffers at The Post, who were already seeking answers over the way their colleagues who worked on the now-canceled Sunday magazine were summarily let go late last month, were aghast at the way Ryan conducted himself in the town hall, they told me. "He does this whole dog and pony show about how things are going great and then drops at the end that he's gong to cut the workforce — and then he refuses to take questions," one staffer told me.

Video posted on Twitter by national reporter Annie Gowen showed Ryan walk off stage as staffers peppered him with questions. Instead of answering the queries from his startled and anxious employees, Ryan told them that he would not "turn the town hall into a grievance session." In a blistering statement, The Washington Post Guild fired back at Ryan, describing his refusal to take questions as "unacceptable" behavior "from any leader," but "especially the leader of a news organization whose core values include transparency and accountability."

(Excerpt) Read more at wfft.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events; US: District of Columbia; US: Virginia
KEYWORDS: accountability; clintonnonnews; cnn; districtofcolumbia; elonmusk; fredryan; goodriddance; jeffbezos; jeffreytoobin; musk; nyahnyah; oliverdarcy; transparency; truthsocial; twitter; virginia; washingtoncompost; washingtonpost
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-73 next last
To: crusty old prospector

Jeez, the exact words I was going to use, and in the first reply to boot.


21 posted on 12/15/2022 1:33:35 PM PST by ConservativeInPA (Stupidly is a moral problem, not an intellectual problem. )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: John W

Bezos needs more money so these people had to lose their jobs. But the globalist journalists still didn’t learn their lesson I’m sure.


22 posted on 12/15/2022 1:36:03 PM PST by GulliverSwift
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: John W

Frickin’ snowflakes. Most adults have gone through and survived many RIFs during their careers. Did they think they’d have their jobs until they died? Really?


23 posted on 12/15/2022 1:41:34 PM PST by MayflowerMadam
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: John W

Maybe they can get jobs along side the fired pipeline workers at the John Kerry Solar Panel Factory.


24 posted on 12/15/2022 1:46:40 PM PST by Organic Panic (Democrats. Memories as short as Joe Biden's eyes)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: John W

I have not seen the financial statements , but just in general, isn’t the newspaper business downsizing just about everywhere? Turn call newspapers in Major cities having to cut back expenses, cut back staff , in order to stay in business?

From what I hear, internet subscriptions to newspapers have not nearly filled the Gap caused by the decline in actual printed newspaper circulation.

And advertising income for newspapers has dropped way off in the past couple of decades.

Maybe these people think they are special because the Washington Post is special and is immune to market forces?


25 posted on 12/15/2022 1:53:10 PM PST by Dilbert San Diego
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: John W

Fuq em running...


26 posted on 12/15/2022 1:54:38 PM PST by clee1 (We use 43 muscles to frown, 17 to smile, and 2 to pull a trigger. I'm lazy and don't wish to smile.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: John W

Tough nuts. Eat it.


27 posted on 12/15/2022 1:56:10 PM PST by WKUHilltopper
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

Guess they should ‘t have collaborated to vanquish the bad orange man as it appears the perpetual hyperventilating and histrionics was the only thing keeping the rag afloat


28 posted on 12/15/2022 1:58:37 PM PST by dsrtsage ( Complexity is just simple lacking imagination)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: John W
...a news organization whose core values include transparency and accountability.

Are they talking about New Twitter? They sure as hell aren't talking about the Washington Post.

29 posted on 12/15/2022 2:02:51 PM PST by ProtectOurFreedom (If you're not part of the solution, you're just scumming up the bottom of the beaker!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: John W
"especially the leader of a news organization whose core values include transparency and accountability."

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.

30 posted on 12/15/2022 2:04:08 PM PST by libertylover (Our biggest problem, by far, is that almost all of big media is AGENDA-DRIVEN, not-truth driven.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: John W

Yeah, that was pretty abrupt. I’d have thrown the staff a big Chinese dinner and had all the fortune cookies say, “Hope your New Year is filled with joy. You’re fired.” Go out on a high note.


31 posted on 12/15/2022 2:12:40 PM PST by Billthedrill
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: John W

Didn’t 500 thousand subscribers dump the Washington Post ouch.


32 posted on 12/15/2022 2:14:09 PM PST by Vaduz (LAWYERS )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: John W

The mood is grim? Do these journalists feel entitled to a job? What the heck....


33 posted on 12/15/2022 2:15:07 PM PST by Rummyfan (In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man. )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: PGR88

Wait ‘til Bezos sells it to Musk.
Then you’ll really see some bed wetting at the WaPo.


34 posted on 12/15/2022 2:17:05 PM PST by nascarnation (Let's go Brandon!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: crusty old prospector

Same crap. Fewer shovels. Get used to it.


35 posted on 12/15/2022 2:17:16 PM PST by jimbug
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: ConservativeInPA

We are kindred spirits.


36 posted on 12/15/2022 2:17:25 PM PST by crusty old prospector
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: Dilbert San Diego
From what I hear, internet subscriptions to newspapers have not nearly filled the Gap caused by the decline in actual printed newspaper circulation.

It's not even close. I coworker had worked for the New York Times advertising department back in the mid 2000s. They described meeting after meeting where the advertising revenue kept dropping while the online increase was only a fraction.

The New York Times paper subscription sells readers to high-end real estate companies, jewelry companies, fur coat companies, and tourism companies. It's near impossible to keep eyes on those ads online through all the noise.

Bezos from Amazon didn't buy the Washington Compost to make money; he bought it to make illegal political contributions-in-kind to Democrats in return for favors. He doesn't need much of a staff to do that.

37 posted on 12/15/2022 2:18:42 PM PST by T.B. Yoits
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies]

To: SamAdams76

When I was in Journalism School at WVU in the late 1960’s I chose the Advertising Sequence instead of News-Editorial. My gut said that the ad biz was more honest—and the gut was right.


38 posted on 12/15/2022 2:19:10 PM PST by jimbug
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: Dilbert San Diego
I have not seen the financial statements , but just in general, isn’t the newspaper business downsizing just about everywhere?

Yes. Print media is dying. Back in the day I subscribed to the WaPo. I stopped that after 9/11 and their execrable journalism following that. And most major publications have not handled the transition to a revenue-generating on-line presence. There was another posting earlier this week that The Post has lost 500k subscribers in the last two years. What do these journos expect?!

39 posted on 12/15/2022 2:21:48 PM PST by Rummyfan (In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man. )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies]

To: John W

Haha!


40 posted on 12/15/2022 2:23:50 PM PST by vivenne
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-73 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson