The SPJ DC chapter deeply regrets the decision by the owner of the Washington Post to decimate the paper’s staff, reportedly cutting 300 newsroom jobs.
The Post for decades has been a key part of the life of the District of Columbia, both as a city and as a world capitol,” said SPJ President Celia Wexler. To so eviscerate a journalistic institution does a great disservice to our community and our country.”
We hope that Jeff Bezos, the Post’s owner, reconsiders this unwise decision. At a time when democracy is in danger, and press freedom has been assaulted, crippling the Post sends a terrible signal. Solid journalism in our nation’s capital has never been needed more.
Editor’s Note: As social media began revealing some of the individuals who were laid off, we noted this one about Martin Weil:
“My colleague Marty Weil is one of The Post’s last living ties to Watergate. He’s covered stories that range from local crime to the Sept. 11 attacks to whimsical weather musings.
After 60 years, he was laid off yesterday by email.”
Weil was inducted into the SPJ DC Pro Chapter’s Washington Journalism Hall of Fame in 2011. In this account of the evening festivities that involved the induction, he offered this advice for Washington reporters, as lessons he’d learned on the job: “1) ‘Always take care of your teeth’; 2) .’To ask a question, speak up and talk fast’; and 3) ‘You never know who will see you – wear a nice coat.'”